


RomCom

by Ann_O_Neem



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Eren is really bad with technology, Eren too, Erwin is an adrenalin junkie, Farlan is an evil genius, Hanji is Eren's fan, Levi has a lot of kinks, Levi/Eren Yeager-centric, M/M, Mangaka Eren, There will be romance, Titan-Haired Eren Yeager, and food, oblivious dorks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-24 20:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1615268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ann_O_Neem/pseuds/Ann_O_Neem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Levi accepted the job of mangaka assistant, he had never thought that it implied to be the babysitter of an high schooler looking man. And that said man had the weirdest habit of all the existing habits. Whatever, he's getting paid and the brat is actually pretty cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Background and tablet

**Author's Note:**

> Because I wanted to read some Domestic!AU, I wrote this. It isn't really domestic but it's still an AU. And the pairing is pretty obvious. Also, please forgive my atrocious grammar and enjoy this attempt at humor and fluff.
> 
> The rating is pretty much for Levi's potty mouth by the way.

 

"No."

Erwin Smith, seasoned editor in the weekly anthology Survey Corps, let out an unsettled sigh and he pursed his lips. His blue eyes narrowed as he looked intensively at the dark haired man who was sipping a cup of green tea with a scowl in front of him. Erwin frowned a bit and thrummed lightly his fingers on the greasy table of the fast-food where their "date" had been issued.

As he knew how the other would react if he were to ask him for the reasons behind his vivid negation, the blond editor decided to go for a more sly route.

"Is that so?" he said as he sipped quietly his cup of coffee (dark and with little sugar. Talking with the dark haired man was always hard on his nerves and he needed his fix of caffeine), "How are your personal projects going along?"

The raven's grey eyes narrowed threateningly and he hissed softly through his gritted teeth.

"You already know the answer so why are you asking me that, Erwin," he retorted in a voice laced with annoyance.

The editor raised an amused eyebrow and cocked his head.

"You're a great artist, Levi," he commented calmly while the raven glared daggers at him. "Probably one of the best that I've ever worked with. The backgrounds that you do are always beautiful and artistic. However..."

Erwin's blue eyes met the raven's orbs and the latter shifted on his seat with an annoyed sigh.

"You don't convey enough emotion," the editor added sternly. "And you still haven't found your muse. Levi," he stopped and took a deep breath. What would follow wouldn't be easy. At all. "Be his assistant. He's a newbie so you'll have to teach pretty much everything. But he's a natural, I'd even say a genius. I'm ready to bet my tie that you'll both learn a lot from each other."

"Bet your tie?" Levi raised an interested eyebrow and smirked slightly as he eyed the infamous bolo tie.

Erwin wasn't kidding around if he was ready to bet that. The raven leaned forward and cupped his chin while he smirked at the blond.

"Then," Levi drawled. "I guess that I'll take you on that. He better not be one of those stuck-up brats, Erwin."

The editor laughed faintly and he emptied calmly his cup of coffee.

"Believe me," he answered and his blue eyes twinkled in amusement. Levi made a face, he had a feeling that the blond was actually laughing at his demise. "He'll surprise you."

Levi pursed his lips slightly and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"So what's the brat's name?"

Erwin chuckled. "My, are you already interested in him?" He teased and immediately hunched over in pain, his forehead hitting harshly the table.

Levi huffed and stretched his legs, ignoring how his left foot was actually hurting from hitting the editor's hard as steel shins.

"Careful there," he retorted lightly. "Wouldn't want you to get back in the hospital..."

Erwin laughed loudly and patted the raven's shoulder before he stood up. He straightened his jacket (they had both kept their winter clothes on in the fastfood) and thinned his lips as he seemed to remember something.

"This is his address," he said as he wrote swiftly a street and a number on a paper serviette. "You begin today and he has an empty room so prepare a suitcase. What else?" Erwin tapped lightly his pen against the serviette, not noticing that the tip was leaking and that there was already an inkblot on the paper. Levi did notice and he tsk-ed. "Ah, yes... Please, Levi, play nice. He's too innocent to understand some of your jokes."

" _Jokes_?" The raven haired repeated with a raised eyebrow. "When the fuck do I joke around? I'll just do his background sketches and assist him, that's all. Like I'd joke with him..."

" _Levi_ ," Erwin raised his voice and pushed the serviette on the table until it was in front of the other man. "I'm serious, play nice."

Levi rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Fine," he accepted. "I'll fucking play nice."

* * *

 (≖_≖✿)

* * *

 

"Play nice," Levi muttered as he walked swiftly in a suburban street with his duffel bag strap on his shoulder. He had only taken his pencils and tablet along with some clothes with him but that was enough to weigh like a dead man on his poor shoulder.

Thus, Levi was in a terrible mood.

Also, Erwin's serviette had been irremediably blurred by the inkblot and Levi couldn't decipher what was written on it. And that explained why he was pretty lost in this suburban neighbourhood. The sun was already setting and the raven sighed heavily. He was supposed to be working in the brat's house.

Not to be lost somewhere in Japan because Erwin couldn't use proper paper to write something important.

"Play fucking nice," Levi added under his breath as he kicked a pebble and followed it fly away with his tired and angry eyes. The rock hit loudly a window and the raven froze.

The window shattered and he groaned.

' _It better not be the brat or some shitty cliché situation like that_ ,' Levi thought angrily as he watched the front door open with a grim creak.

"EREN GRISIA JÄGER," a stern looking matron screeched as her red face appeared through the opening. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT YOUR ANGER ISSUES?!"

Levi kept a straight face and stayed still. He didn't want the angry matron to realize that he had been the one to break her window. So he just stood there, not moving while she screeched to the winds her irritation.

Suddenly, the matron stopped screeching and she scoffed. Levi blankly stared at her and waited.

"Did you see it?" She asked him with a quieter voice. (Levi appreciated it, his eardrums were still hurting after her screeches. She sounded like a pterodactyl when she used her lungs like that...)

"See what?" He asked with his normal voice.

The matron didn't seem to like it because she scrunched her nose and folded her arms on her bosom. Not that Levi cared about that because she looked more and more like a hag to his eyes.

"That little runt," she huffed loudly before going back in her house to put her shoes. She then went out of her house and stomped her way to an apartment complex that was situated down the street.

Levi followed her with his eyes and he sighed heavily. He let his duffel bag on the (dirty) ground and observed the broken window and then the matron's back. She was now knocking harshly on a door. The raven raised his eyebrows when he saw the door open and someone finally answer to the woman's screams.

Levi couldn't see clearly what was going on in the apartment complex but the Eren Jäger guy seemed to appease the matron's desire of blood and she went back to her house. When she passed in front of him, Levi cleared his throat and almost flinched when bloodshot eyes glared at him.

" ** _What_**?" The matron asked harshly.

"I'm looking for someone but I lost his address," the raven answered calmly.

"And?" the woman dared raise an eyebrow and tilted her head.

Levi sighed heavily and reminded himself that he didn't have to make a scene here. Erwin wouldn't appreciate it if he had to fetch him in a cell again.

"He's a mangaka," he added through his gritted teeth. He could already feel his jaw protest with all the pressure. "And..."

"Ah yeah," the matron nodded and raised a finger to point at the apartment complex. "It's Jaeger. You're his assistant, right? Seems like you're late because he's at his end wits."

"Yeah," Levi reluctantly agreed and he glanced at the closed door behind which Jäger was hiding. "Our editor can be air-headed at the worst times."

"Is that so?" The matron commented absentmindedly. "You better go help that runt. He looked like a dead man on his feet."

Levi made a face and quickly erase it. He thanked quietly the woman and took his duffel bag before walking to the apartment complex. After climbing the metallic stairs that were already covered in rust (he grimaced as he noticed it. Someday, it'd break under someone's big ass...), he observed the doors until he found the name tag Jäger. He took a deep breath and rang the bell.

The answer was quick because he immediately heard something fall down behind the door and rushing steps until the door was abruptly open.

Levi widened slightly his eyes and he gaped a bit as he finally saw the mangaka.

Erwin had told him that the brat was young, yes. But Levi had never imagined that Jäger would be that young. He looked like an high schooler! Also, he had a lithe body and was wearing an ample T-shirt and big trousers. There were also covered in inkblots and rests of erasers. The brat had long brown hair, it didn't look dyed and as Levi noticed his eyes, the raven understood that it was probably his foreign (German?) heritage.

Boy sure had strange eyes. They were so bloodshot and heavy lidded that Levi couldn't clearly see their colour. But from what he could see, it wasn't the habitual Japanese's dark brown or black.

To put it succinctly, Jäger looked like shit.

"Are you the new assistant?" The brat asked with a breathy voice.

Levi sneered and prepared a witty retort before he remembered Erwin's order. He quickly closed his mouth and sighed heavily, his breath fanning over the mangaka's face and making the latter grimace a bit.

"Are you?" Jäger insisted.

"Yeah," Levi simply answered as he got into the apartment. He put his duffel bag on the floor and took off his shoes before he took his bag strap and walked into the mangaka's house. "Where is my room?"

"Huh..." the brat blinked owlishly and finally reacted. He pointed at a closed door and then at another one, this time creaked open. "That one is empty, you can use it. And that one is my room. It's where I work."

"Great," Levi groaned as he opened abruptly his room door and dropped his bag on the dusty floor. His eyebrow twitched as he realised how dirty the bedroom was and he made a quick prayer for the brat's life.

' _Play nice_ ,' he reminded himself. ' _Fucking play nice_.'

He took out his pencils and drawing tablet before he went into the brat's bedroom. The latter was already in it, sitting in front of his desk and hunched over his tablet. Levi raised his eyebrows, impressed by the boy's professionalism. He was so concentrated on his drawings that he hadn't even realised that his assistant was there.

"What do you want me to do?" Levi asked as he sat in front of the empty desk behind the mangaka.

The brat cursed loudly and stomped his foot. "Fuck! I fucked that face! Now I have to draw it from the beginning!"

"You really are a newbie," the assistant commented as he stood behind the mangaka. "You can always use that feature in the tablet." He showed it, his tablet pen clicking on the tablet, and he leaned a bit forward so he could see better the brat's drawing.

He had indeed been drawing a face and Levi chuckled darkly when he saw those sparkly eyes and long hair.

"So you draw Shoujo," he commented. "How fitting..."

Jäger didn't react and frowned, his bloodshot eyes blinked slowly as he observed the foreign pen and then the chuckling man behind him.

"The background in page fifteen," he said breathily.

"Got it," Levi checked the pages that had been carefully put on his desk and he whistled softly when he noticed how many details had been imbedded in every scene.

Even if the faces belonged to a Shoujo manga, the details put looked more like a seinen. The raven shrugged and he began to work on the background of the fifteenth page.

It was supposed to be in a forest at night but the brat hadn't inked it correctly and looked more like a park than a forest. Levi nodded to himself. A newbie, it was as plain as day.

But still, those details...

He shook his head and began to ink the leaves.

* * *

 (≖_≖✿)

* * *

 

"Good work today," Erwin said warmly as he took the heavy load of pages from the mangaka's desk.

Levi stretched his arms behind him and groaned when he heard his articulations creak loudly. They had pulled an all-nighter and he could already feel himself doze off. But they had finished the chapter right on the deadline and that was all that mattered.

Jäger moaned pitifully and stood on his shivering legs before he stumbled until he fell on his bed. His head hadn't even touched his pillow and he was already out like a light.

Levi rolled his eyes and rubbed his eyelids, almost moaning at the heavenly feeling.

"So, what did you think of him?" Erwin asked him as they both got out of the sleeping boy's bedroom.

Levi ignored the editor's question and stumbled into his room before scoffing with an hateful grimace. All that dust...

"He stinks," he finally answered as he barged into the living room/kitchen and searched around for some cleaning tools and Windex. "And he lives in a pigsty."

"Every mangaka is like that," Erwin placated with a small shrug. "I was talking about his art. What do you think of it?"

This time, Levi took his time to think of his answer. He cleaned his bedroom meticulously, swiping away the dust and cleaning the windows almost angrily before he suddenly stopped. The room was now sparkling and he nodded to himself. Now, he could live there. Then, he remembered that his editor and best friend was still waiting for his answer and he shrugged.

"I've never seen it before so I don't really know about his manga. But he puts a lot of shits in every page. If he mastered better the backgrounds, he'd be good."

"That's why you're here," Erwin smiled at him and patted softly his shoulder before he went to the door. "I left some food in the fridge, please indulge yourself. And don't forget to tell Eren, he tends to forget about his body needs during the deadline..."

"Who do you take me for?" Levi grumbled. "His fucking babysitter?"

Erwin chuckled and left the apartment. The raven rolled his eyes and took out his futon before he scrunched his nose. Had it been correctly washed? And if the answer was positive, since when?

"Whatever," he muttered as he changed into his sleep wear and got into the futon. "I'm too tired for this shit."

* * *

 (≖_≖✿)

* * *

 

When he woke up, it was still night and it confused him. Levi glanced at his phone and cursed under his breath as he realised that he had slept during the whole day.

"Hope that whatever shit left Erwin is still edible," he muttered as he stumbled in the kitchen.

He froze.

What about the brat? Had he also slept during the whole day? Levi remembered how much Jäger stank and imagined the bed sheets impregnated with that heavy and atrocious scent. He almost gagged and shook widely his head. Now wasn't the moment to pity the brat about his hygiene. He needed to eat and drink, his throat was parched. The raven opened the drawers, checking what was in them and cursed under his breath.

The brat didn't have anything edible. His only hope left was whatever Erwin had left. He opened the fridge and blinked.

Two bento from a convenience store.

Levi blinked again.

Yes, there was still two bento box covered in plastic.

He gritted his teeth and cursed the blond loudly. Levi downright hated eating bento from the convenience store, they tasted like shit. But he still took one of them and opened it harshly. He began to eat his eyebrows furrowed as he glanced around him.

From what he could see, Jäger lived alone and didn't have a family that visited often. He was also dirt poor because he didn't have shit in his drawers and fridge and there wasn't a television anywhere. There wasn't any decorations on the walls and the only picture that Levi had seen was in the brat's room. Yet, there were a lot of books in the whole apartment. They were disseminated everywhere, on the floors and sometimes even laying flat open.

Also, the brat couldn't clean for shit because Levi was pretty sure that he had seen a cockroach in the fridge. And there was a 5cm of dust everywhere.

Levi finished eating, feeling almost faint, and he swiftly put the bento box in the dustbin. It was when he saw the bin that he snapped.

There were worms in there!

"This. Is," he hissed angrily as he stomped in his room and took a clean chiffon in duffel bag. He put it around his face to protect it from any flying dirt and frowned heavily. He was back in his battle mode now that he had his stomach full and was well rested. _" **War**!"_

* * *

 (≖_≖✿)

* * *

 

The cleaning of the whole apartment had taken a day and a half. When Levi finished oiling the doors, he straightened his back and looked at his phone clock. It was only then that he realised how long it had taken him. And that he was hungry as hell. His cleaning frenzy had been so intense that he had forgotten to eat.

He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Still as empty as before except for that hated bento box. Levi glared at it and then at his phone.

He could always go to the convenience store (they never closed) but it would mean that he would have to use his money.

And Levi was pretty much poor right now.

But still, that didn't mean that he had to eat bento from convenience stores for two days.

Decisions, decisions.

He sighed heavily and went back in his bedroom to take his wallet. But, as he put it in his pant pocket and took his jacket, he realised something.

He didn't have the keys to the apartment. And only the brat knew where they were.

Levi groaned heavily and glanced at Jäger's door. The boy was still sleeping (or dead. He hadn't showed during Levi's cleaning frenzy and it had been really loud with the vacuum cleaner going on, so he could pretty much be dead)

' _And don't forget to tell Eren, he tends to forget about his body needs during the deadline..._ ' Erwin's voice echoed in his mind and Levi scowled.

He wasn't the brat's babysitter.

Yet... He was supposed to be the one to teach him all the ropes. And if the brat ended being dead, he wouldn't be payed. Levi needed that money so...

He sighed heavily and made his way to the boy's room. The door opened without a creak (he had oiled it too now that he thought about it) and he entered the bedroom quietly. To his relief, he heard the brat's faint breathing and Levi scowled when he saw that heap of ruffled brown hair peeking through an heavy blanket. Also, the room stank of sweat and filth.

Levi's eyebrow twitched and he snarled.

"Jäger!" he roared as he kicked the mangaka's head with his knee. "Get up!"

The brat moaned and burrowed his head in his pillow. Levi felt his left eyelid twitch.

"I said," he whispered sweetly. "GET UP, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Jäger let out a shrilly squeak as he fell from his bed and he gulped loudly when he saw his new assistant glare at him.

"Go take a shower!" Levi barked as he ripped the bed sheets to shreds. The brown haired male nodded nervously and scram away without saying anything. But the raven wasn't finished with him. "But before that, where the fuck do you put your clean sheets? And I need your keys."

"First drawer to the left," the brat answered with a raspy voice still laced with sleep. His eyes were also heavy lidded and Levi briefly wondered if they were always like that after all those all nighters. "Keys are next to the eggs in the fridge."

"Why the fuck you'd put the keys there?" Levi scowled but the mangaka didn't answer him, he was already showering. "Shitty brat."

He went to the nearest convenience store and bought the cleanest shit that he could find. His mouth was still remembering the shitty taste of that damned bento box. So that meant that he'd have to eat extra fine dishes tonight.

' _Well_ ,' Levi shrugged as he took a bottle of wine and put it in his trolley. ' _Once in a while is fine_.'

When he got back in the apartment, he immediately got to work and cut precisely the carrots while he poured water in a pot. He always wanted a pot-au-feu after a long day of cleaning and he didn't see why he shouldn't indulge in that little pleasure. The brat wasn't in the living room/kitchen so he didn't disturb him while he cooked his meal. Or was it their meal? Jäger hadn't eaten in two days and Levi had eaten his bento. Right, now he was feeling sorry for that stinky brat. Or it could be his empty stomach.

The assistant sighed heavily and walked until he was in front of the bathroom door. It was closed and if he strained his ears, he could hear the water running and someone singing softly.

"Hey, brat!" He called loudly.

He immediately heard someone slipping and something ripping. Levi chuckled and he face palmed.

"Did you break your shower curtain?" he asked mockingly.

"Why do you ask if you already know?" the brat retorted angrily from behind the door.

Levi shook his head and chuckled another time before he recomposed himself.

"I made something to eat, want some?" he proposed to appease the already riled up boy.

"Really?" was his immediate answer. "I'm in! Just wait a second, I need to shave."

"Shave?" Levi repeated as he raised a perplexed brow. "Why? You're a brat, you don't need to shave."

"Haha, very funny," Jäger deadpanned.

* * *

 (≖_≖✿)

* * *

 

"Finally here, I see," Levi said as he heard steps in the kitchen.

He was still brewing the pot and was turning his back on the brat. The latter hummed a vague answer and walked to the fridge while the assistant took the maniples to transport the pot to the tiny table.

"Hey, you went shopping?" Jäger commented as he leaned forward, his eyes looking over everything new in the fridge (pretty much everything). "That's a really nice wine, can I open it?"

"You're too young for that, brat," Levi retorted easily as he put the pot on the table and turned to fetch a ladle.

His eyes went to the brat and he froze. The ladle fell from his hands and he felt his mouth dry while he just couldn't get his eyes away from the brat's body.

He was just _so very fucking_ naked.

' _Brat isn't entirely a brat_ ,' he thought idly as he continued watching gobsmacked the oh so very naked man take out the bottle of wine and put it on the table.

Where the fuck had he ended? Also, were those a four-pack? How did he have one?! He was a mangaka, for Pete's sake! He didn't have the time to work-out!

* * *

 (≖_≖✿)

* * *

 

" ** _E-RU-WI-N_** ," Levi hissed to his phone after the excruciatingly long dinner with the so very fucking naked and young Jäger. "Why. Just tell me fucking _why_."

"I see that you've found his little habit," the editor chuckled and the assistant bristled like an angry cat.

"Oh yes, I found it," he whispered deadly at the blond. "And you're a fucking dead man, Smith! Once I get my hands around your neck, you'll be dead..."

"Come on," Erwin laughed happily. "It isn't so bad!"

"Try eating in front of a stark naked brat, you shit-face!" Levi barked. "And that brat dared ask me what was wrong?! Is he that stupid?"

"Didn't I tell you?" the blond retorted with a more serious voice. "Eren is too innocent for his own good sometimes. So, Levi, play nice."

The raven blinked and he glanced at his closed door. He had gone in his bedroom (or rather ran) once he had finished eating and he was pretty sure that the brat had been surprised by his behaviour.

"Levi?" Erwin's voice was heavy laced with a warning tone and the other man sighed heavily.

"Fine," he groaned. "I'll _play nice_ with the shitty brat..."

 


	2. Draft and Titan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said yesterday, the second chapter is ready. This time, we get to see a bit more about Eren's life. And I feel like I've made Levi become a tsundere. I must repent for that error.

"You seem in high spirits today."

Eren blinked and he looked at his friend with a surprised face. They were sitting in a small cafe, nursing their hot drinks between their cold hands while they chatted happily about what happened during the week. Since Eren had become a mangaka, he hadn't had the time to go out with his friends and he was really happy to finally get out of his stuffy apartment.

"Who wouldn't?" the brown haired man replied with a shrug. "I finished my chapter on time this month and Mr. Smith said that they were thinking of making a drama adaptation. And I got to see you, Armin!"

Armin Arlelt, a young man with bright blond hair cut in an old fashioned boll cut laughed softly at his friend's answer and he sipped quietly his chamomile infusion.

"Really?" he insisted and a teasing smile made its way on his lips when he saw his best friend look down and bit his lips nervously. Wasn't that interesting? Eren never acted like that. Unless...

"I got a new assistant," the mangaka said between his gritted teeth.

Armin widened his eyes in surprise and he carefully put down his cup of chamomile infusion.

"Really?" the blond repeated in shock. "But didn't you say that Connie would be the last...?"

"Yeah," Eren nodded and his eyes wandered in the cafe before stopping on his friend's face.

Armin's big and round blue eyes were looking at him intensively. Then, while Eren almost fretted because he knew that the blond was judging him silently, Armin smiled heartily at him and acquiesced.

"He must be good then," he commented softly.

Eren's face lightened and he widened his eyes in excitation as he leaned forward. His elbows were on the cafe table and he smiled widely at his friend.

"He's a real prick!" he exclaimed and his eyes sparkled while he added fuel to his explanation. "He never stops calling me a brat and is always fussing about the cleanness of the apartment! But he cooks like a French god! And his backgrounds are amazing! And he's really good at drawing during a deadline! And he smells so good! And..."

"I get it, I get it!" Armin laughed and waved his hand to stop Eren's passionate explanation. "So you're keeping him?"

Eren laughed feebly and he nervously scratched the tip of his nose. His cheeks reddened slightly and he sighed heavily.

"Yeah," he nodded and bit his lips. "I'm going to keep him as my regular assistant."

"That's good," the blond smiled warmly and he caressed absentmindedly the handle of his cup. "What's his name?"

"Uuuuh..." Eren cocked his head and furrowed his eyebrows. "I never got his full name but Mr. Smith called him Levi."

"Levi?" Armin raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips. "I feel like I've heard his name somewhere..."

"Maybe you did," Eren shrugged and scratched his neck. "It's a small world after all."

"Gods," the other man made a face and shuddered. "I hope not. Can you imagine meeting those idiots from high school?"

The brunet laughed loudly and he patted his friend's shoulder.

"Like we would!" he retorted happily before a smug smile made his way to his lips. "They are still in some remote parts in the mountains. We made it outside and they didn't, Armin!"

The other chuckled. "Still," he muttered pensively. "I feel like I know him..."

"Should I take him with me next time?" Eren said with a sly smile. "Then you'd see that I didn't exaggerate his cleaning freakishness!"

"Eren," Armin chided sternly. "You're the one who forgets everything about hygiene when you're at your deadline."

Eren rolled his eyes and took one of his long brown tresses to play with it while pouting angrily.

"Still," he insisted under his breath. "He's a prick."

"I'll see that myself when you'll take him with you. How about next Saturday?"

"Can't," Eren answered back with an heavy sigh. "I've my draft to finish and send to Mr. Smith."

"Sunday?"

"Sunday, it is," the brown haired male grinned widely.

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

"Fuck no," Levi said tersely from the apartment door.

Eren pouted and he leaned against his bedroom door with his arms folded over his chest.

"But why?" He asked with a slightly whiny voice. That clearly wasn't whiny. He was a man. A manly man.

"I have a job Sunday," the dark haired man retorted with an eye-roll. "And I really need to go home."

Eren hummed lightly and he furrowed his eyebrows. He could understand that his assistant needed to go home, he had stayed for two weeks in his apartment and needed probably a new change of clothes if he was so anal on personal hygiene. (The brunet had never seen Levi wear the same clothes during the two weeks. And he didn't have a washer. So the raven was probably on his ends wits.) But he didn't understand the first part of Levi's answer.

"A job?" Eren said with a curious voice. He cocked his head and observed the man put his shoes on, they were black and shiny. Eren could totally see a mafioso wear shoes like those.

Maybe Levi was a yakuza in disguise. It wouldn't be surprising, the man could pack a punch. The mangaka shuddered as he remembered some of his abrupt wake-up calls by his (so not) lovely (and probably yakuza) assistant.

The latter snorted and straightened his back before he nonchalantly turned his head and looked at him with judging eyes.

"Unlike some shitty brat," he answered with his deep and condescending voice, "I'm paid with a shitty wage and I need to pay my fucking taxes. Also, you owe me for all the fucking times where I was the one who went grocery shopping. That wine wasn't cheap, brat."

Eren frowned and he raked his brain for a witty retort. However, it took him too much time and Levi swiftly opened the front door, letting the ice cold wind enter the warm apartment. The brunet bristled unhappily and he rubbed vividly his forearms to keep some warmth on his shivering body while his assistant snickered.

"Put some fucking pants," the raven scolded before he stormed out of the apartment.

Eren rolled his eyes and he ran a hand through his hair, wincing when some fingers were stuck in knots. He sighed and went in his bedroom to fetch his hairbrush. He noticed his phone ringing on his desk and he furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't supposed to get a call today. Was it his editor? Mr. Smith had said that he needed to tell him more about the drama adaptation. With a quick glance, he confirmed his suspicions and took the call.

"Mr. Smith?" he said as he let himself fall on his bed.

The comforter smelled of lime and pine and he frowned. He didn't remember washing it.

"Ah, Eren!" Erwin Smith, alias Eren's editor and frequent savior (he tended to forget about feeding during deadlines. Eren didn't see why everyone fretted about that...). "How are you doing with Levi?"

"... Fine," he answered as he remembered with a scowl his last discussion with his assistant.

Bastard had dared order him to put his pants in his house. (Well, apartment. But still his.) Erwin's laugh shook him from his thoughts and Eren coughed nervously. He had totally zoned out.

"W-why did you call  _me_?" He asked and his voice creaked nervously by the end of his question. He wanted to burrow his head in his pillow.

"Nothing much," Erwin answered with a small chuckle. He was probably laughing at Eren's distraction, it wasn't the first time after all.

The brunet felt his cheeks redden and he groaned as he burrowed his head in his pillow. It smelled of lime and pine too. That made him freeze.

He sure as hell didn't wash it. And he didn't have a washed in his house.

So how the hell did Levi wash them if he was saying that he didn't have any money left? Unless...

Eren groaned pitifully and smacked his forehead with his phone.

"I feel like a shit!" he whined. "Erwin, tell me that I'll be paid soon!"

"Are you planning on traveling again?" the editor asked with a voice laced with curiosity and worry.

Last time that Eren had decided to travel around, he had forgotten to leave a note about his whereabouts and his friends had began a search in the whole world. His sister truly was a force to recon. And Eren was too air headed to realize how many people had been worried sick about him.

"Noooo," the brunet whined as he shook quickly his head. His long hair whipped his cheeks and he winced. It was more than time to cut it. "I need to repay back Levi's kindness!"

"Levi's  _kindness_ ," Erwin repeated. His voice seemed shocked and Eren heard the editor mumble something that he couldn't decipher. "What did he do. Eren, what did he do to you? You weren't forced, right?"

"Eh?" the mangaka blinked owlishly and he pursed his lips. "Of course he didn't force me!" he said vividly. "But he's really rough when I'm still in my bed and he's up!"

Erwin spluttered something and Eren winced when he heard something break through the phone.

" _ **Eren**_ ," his editor hissed softly and the mangaka blinked. What did he say to anger the normally calm man? "Where is Levi right now?"

"I don't know," Eren answered honestly. "He just told me to put some pants and left."

"Then he's probably at Hanji's place..." Erwin sighed heavily and the brunet cocked his head.

"Hanji?" he said, his eyes widening in curiosity.

"The author of ' _Sonny and Bean_ '," Erwin explained calmly. "Levi works frequently for them."

"He knows their author?" Eren exclaimed in surprise as he quickly strutted out of his bedroom and fetched a pair of clean pants to put them on. "Where do they live? I want to meet them!"

"Eren!" The blond chided and the mangaka froze right on his steps. "Don't, Hanji is working on their deadline right now."

Eren sighed heavily and nodded reluctantly.

"Okay," he muttered. "Then I'll go back to my draft..."

"Do that but don't forget about our reunion tomorrow," Erwin agreed before he added calmly. "So what do you think of working with Levi? Will you take him as your regular assistant?"

"Yeah," he nodded and glanced at his bed with the freshly washed comforter and sheets. "Is it possible to increase his salary? He's the one who cooks and cleans so..."

"How mature of you," Erwin chuckled and Eren frowned.

"Why is everyone thinking that I'm a brat?" he muttered darkly.

Erwin chuckled even more and the mangaka scowled.

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

"What the fuck did you tell to Erwin!"

Eren squeaked and let his soap drop before he slipped on the slippery tiles of his shower and almost fell over. Luckily for him, he was able to hold on his head shower and regained his equilibrium. Unluckily for his assistant, the head shower broke and fell loudly on the raven's head, drenching his clothes irremediably.

"So?" Levi hissed threateningly as he folded his arms on his chest and stomped impatiently his foot. His sock made a sucking noise whenever they touched the tiles and he narrowed his eyes. He hated wearing damp clothes.

"I don't understand," Eren spluttered nervously and his eyes wandered from his fallen soap to the assistant's irritated face. "What did I do?"

"That's exactly what I'm asking, brat!" the raven spat before he huffed loudly. He turned around and ran a hand through his hair, the damp black tresses being slicked back and staying there.

 _'He has an undercut,_ ' Eren noticed.

He blinked and shoot softly his head. Now wasn't the time to notice petty details about his assistant's hairstyle. Not when he could be planning his death...

"Erwin told me that you wanted me to move in," Levi added with a scowl.

Eren blinked.

"Well," he drawled as he leaned against the shower wall. It was cold against his skin and he shivered slightly. "It's true that I want that. It'd be easier if you lived here, right?"

"And why the fuck would I do that?" The assisted retorted angrily and his eyes had now the colour of a storm in the making. "Want me to babysit you?"

"Uuuuh..." Eren shook his head, his long hair was all over his face and covering his eyes, making him unable to see the angry raven who was probably about to kill him in his shower. Of all the places to die. "If that means that you'll be my regular assistant, then yes..."

Levi took a deep breath and the mangaka flinched. He could already see the headlines in tomorrow newspapers. ' _Young man found dead and butt-naked in his shower_!' ' _Killed by a leprechaun in his shower!_ ' The last one actually made him chuckle.

"Okay, shitty brat," the raven suddenly said and Eren blinked.

"What?" he weakly asked.

"I said okay, you fucking deaf shit," Levi barked angrily and the brunet flinched back against the wall. "I'll be your fucking babysitter. But you'll have to give me half your salary. Plus my habitual wage. Is that clear, brat?"

"If you keep cleaning and cooking, I don't see why not," Eren shrugged and he widened his eyes when he noticed that his assistant was harshly looking at the ceiling.

Wait a second, hadn't he been glancing at something else seconds ago? Something like what was below his navel?

Eren blinked and shrugged. Must be dreaming, there was a lot of steam in the bathroom after all.

"Also, it'll be permanent," Levi added almost absentmindedly.

The mangaka cocked his head and ran his hand over his face, pushing back the damp hair from his eyes. He blinked, that was probably the first time that he didn't have his bangs over his eyes since Levi's arrival. The latter opened his mouth to quickly shut it. He did that two other times before he swiftly turned his head and stalked out of the bathroom with a hand on his face.

"No problem with me!" Eren shouted just as the other closed the door behind him. "When do you move in?"

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

Eren munched on his lips and furrowed his eyebrows. He had tied his hair into a low ponytail but it was slightly tickling his neck and that was disturbing as hell. Not that he was going to change it as he was presently a little bit busy trying to stay alive under Levi's irritated glare.

That man could glare. That was all that was to say.

"What the fuck is that?" his assistant asked with an heavy frown as he pushed a sheet of papers covered in scribbles on the mangaka's desk.

Eren glanced at it and blinked. Then, he finally understood what it was all about and he beamed at the raven.

"It's my habitual salary," he answered honestly, not noticing how Levi's left eyelid was twitching madly. "Wow, it's more than I remembered..."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Levi growled ominously. "You have only this much and leave in an apartment in a suburban area... How the hell can you pay the rent? Do you fucking sell yourself or what?"

"What?" Eren blinked owlishly. He hadn't understood the last remark. "I'm not really into slavery so no. My family owns the whole apartment complex, I don't have to pay a rent, you know?"

"Go figure," the assistant rolled his eyes and he put a hand over his eyes with an heavy sigh. "So you get this shitty pay for every chapter? Every month?"

"I just began," the mangaka protested. "It's not like I'd be paid an awesome amount in my beginning, right? And my manga is going to have an adaptation so I'll have some royalties!"

"Fuck, I feel like stealing the poor like that," Levi groaned, his hand still on his eyes. "At least tell me that your manga is successful."

"Uuuuh..."

"Shit, Jäger!" the raven cussed loudly, his hand falling to his hips while he shook angrily his head. His bangs were tussled from the sudden move and Eren observed the pale forehead. He would have sworn that Levi had wrinkles from all the frowns and angry faces. Yet it was smooth like a baby's ass.

At that thought, Eren pursed his lips and tried to hold his laugh. Yet, it was for nothing because he soon began to laugh hysterically as the mental picture of Levi with a baby on his face.

"How are you going to survive like that?" the assistant scolded coldly. "Weren't you supposed to be a genius or something along?"

Immediately, Eren stopped laughing and he gulped, his face lacking all the emotion that he had displayed before and his eyes duller.

"Yeah," he said with a faint voice. "Something along..." The brunet took a deep breath and hunched his back over his desk, looking over his files until he found his new draft. "This is the storyboard of my new manga. Mr. Erwin said that it'll be a success. Does this satisfy you?"

"It doesn't look like the chapter from the other week," Levi commented with furrowed eyebrows. "The art doesn't look the same too."

"Last week was for a contest. ' _Draw a Shoujo manga that will attract even the boys_!' Didn't you hear about it?" Eren answered as he went back to his empty sheet of paper. He was merely sketching the characters for the new manga and Levi raised an impressed eyebrow.

The drawing seemed to take life under the man's pencil.

"I think that Erwin told me about it," the assistant finally retorted pensively. "But wasn't it strictly reserved for the most famous mangaka in Tokyo? Survey Corps only sent two One-Shot to the contest."

"Mine and Hanji's, right?" Eren smiled and continued drawing.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Levi growled when he finally recognized the mangaka's style. "You're the author of ' _Titan_ '."

"Why is it always ' _Titan_ '?" the mangaka rolled his eyes and pushed against his desk, making his rolling chair go away and hit his assistant right in his chest.

"I don't know," the other ironised. "Maybe because your first manga was adapted into a fucking Hollywood movie?"

"And it was horrible," Eren deadpanned.

"And it was horrible," Levi conceded. He went back to reading the draft and widened his eyes.

It was good. No, even better than ' _Titan_ '.

And Levi was going to help him from the very beginning.

"Why are you grinning?" Eren asked him with curiosity.

"Why are you wearing pants now?" Levi retorted on par with his deadpan voice.

"I asked first."

"But you're always naked except in your room. It disturbs me so much that I can't answer your question."

"You're a prick."

"And you're a shitty brat."

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

"I swear to god that he's a yakuza," Eren said in a hushed voice to his phone.

"Ereeeeen," Armin moaned. "It's two in the morning! Unlike you, I have a regular work and need to sleep at night!"

"But I swear that he's a yakuza!" the mangaka insisted. "He has an undercut!"

"Every hipster nowadays has one," Armin drawled before he yawned loudly.

"But he isn't a hipster," Eren frowned and he shuffled in his bed, the comfy comforter pooling around him. "He's too old for that."

"You're never too old," the blond said wisely.

"Shut it, mushroom," the mangaka retorted with a huff.

"Whatever, Titanic, you know I'm right, I always am," Armin scoffed loudly before they both began to laugh loudly.

A loud sound came from the assistant's room and Eren tensed. He had been too loud and interrupted the raven's beauty sleep.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," he chanted nervously as he went to hide under his comforter. "I'm so dead! He's up! Armin, he's up! Save me!"

"You're alone in this," his best friend retorted.

The door opened abruptly and Eren took a deep breath. Then, he let it out in a shuddering sigh when he saw the stormy eyes and ruffled black hair.

"H-hey, Levi!" Eren forced a smile and waved weakly his hand. "Already up?"

"Listen here, Jäger," Levi hissed threateningly without moving from his spot. His eyes were narrowed and his lips thinned.

The mangaka gulped loudly. Suddenly, inviting the raven live with him didn't seem like a good idea. But it was too late.

'When you make your bed,' he thought warily.'You have to lay in it...'

"I don't know what kind of shit you're on," the assistant added calmly.

Calm was bad. Calm was like Levi was already beyond his breaking point. Eren closed his eyes shut and began to pray for his soul's salvation.

"But you'll quickly shut your fucking mouth before I get mad, is that clear?"

"Crystal clear," Eren squealed.

"Good," Levi huffed and went back to his room.

The mangaka clearly heard him stumble on his way back and hit his toe against the door. However, he didn't comment on that. He wanted to live.

"Was that your assistant?" Armin's voice sounded a bit muffled and Eren searched for his phone before he put it against his ear.

"Yeah," he whispered softly.

"He sounds like the Devil on his period," the blond commented.

Eren laughed.

"WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY?"

"OH MY GOD, ARMIN, SAVE ME, SAVE ME, SAVE ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE YOUNG!"

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

"Hey, the tone is off," Levi said as he put the pages that he had inked on the mangaka's desk.

Eren grunted and put down his tablet pen before he looked at the page that his assistant had talked about. He furrowed his eyebrows and clicked his tongue when he noticed the frame.

"It's on purpose," he answered before going back to his finishing. He had to draw fourteen pages and they weren't going to draw themselves.

"Are you kidding me?" Levi put his hand on Eren's shoulder and forced him to look at the incriminated page. "You are showing the readers the hero's mother dying. Why the hell are you using sparkles and flowers?"

"Doesn't the blood look like confetti in the previous frame?" Eren retorted calmly as he drew the hero fighting the villain to save his rival.

Levi didn't answer and the mangaka took it as a win. His first since they lived together.

"Whatever," the raven muttered as he went back to his desk with a new load of pages to ink and draw the background. Eren still couldn't do it as well as him and had quickly abandoned trying to do it when Levi was available. "You're the mangaka, you're the one who will be scolded by Erwin."

"Mr. Smith will never scold me," the brunet retorted while he bobbed his head at the sound of the little radio that he had put on his desk. His high ponytail flopped every time and Eren smirked. He could tell that the repetitive sound and action was aggravating Levi.

"Shitty brat," the raven muttered.

"Old fart," he retorted playfully.

The night passed as they bantered, pushing way past their limits to finish the chapter. The sun was rising when Eren let out a shout of pure joy, stretching his arms over his head while yawning loudly.

"Finished!" he exclaimed happily. "I can finally go to sleep!"

He turned his head to congratulate Levi on helping him so much and blinked in surprise. The man was leaning over his desk, his head over his folded arms and his eyes closed while he slept soundlessly. The mangaka approached him quietly and slowly, like he'd have with a wild beast, and stopped in front of his assistant. He poked softly the raven's cheek and widened his eyes when he saw the other furrow his eyebrows and grunt weakly.

"Hey, Levi," he called in a hushed voice. "Time to go to bed... Get up and go to your room..."

His assistant didn't open his eyes and grunted another time when Eren poked him again. The mangaka sighed heavily and glanced at Levi's sleeping face and then at his bed. It was sufficiently large to host two grown men without making them sleep on each other's faces. Eren shrugged his worries, he was too tired to worry along Levi's reactions, and took the raven in his arms before stumbling into his bed.

Levi sure weighed a lot for a tiny man. Maybe it was for all the bullshit that he spouted when he was awake.

He dropped his assistant in his bed and quickly made his way to the other side of the mattress. He kicked away his pants and sighed in content before he closed his eyes.

The smell of mint body wash surrounded him and he felt himself fall in the Sandman's trail.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"What the fuck?" Levi muttered as he slowly turned his head and saw the extremely close face of the shitty brat.

Why was he in the mangaka's bed? What had happened?

He quickly checked his clothes and sighed in relief. He still had everything on. Then, he glanced under the comforter to check something and clicked his tongue.

Yep, the brat was as naked as ever.

But that didn't mean that they had done the deed. He was always flaunting his body so Levi had grown pretty accustomed to it. In fact, he didn't get hot anymore every time that he saw that ass whenever the brat bent to take something on the floor.

And he had seen that too many times.

Now, it almost seemed normal to Levi.

Going home and seeing the brat stark naked reading a book in his living room. Seeing the brat, still as naked as ever stroll out of his bedroom every morning to eat his breakfast with him.

Seeing the brat, with his naked body covered in beads of water, go out of the bathroom and ask him if there were any clean towel near him.

Now that he thought about it, they were acting like an old couple.

Levi frowned and kneed Jäger in his guts before he calmly went to take his morning shower.

He had a bad case of morning wood to take care of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder why it was such a bad case... (o^^o)
> 
> The third chapter will probably be ready by Tuesday. So until then, you can always tell me what you thought of the tsundere Levi. Should I put it as a tag?


	3. Suit and Kinks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the third chapter. There is some violence too, but then Levi is here so... It's pretty much tied, yes. Also, Eren can be a little (masochistic) shit. In fact, everyone is. (What the hell am I writing...) and so many kinks in so little words. Seriously.
> 
> Well, let's cut the bullshit and go to the good things!

"Just to make sure but are you high?"

Levi tapped lightly the end of his pen on his desk, his head leaning on his hand as he looked at the mangaka. The latter blushed and narrowed his eyes, he looked angrily at the raven and Levi snorted softly.

"Is that a yes?" The raven cocked his head and smirked smugly when he saw the mangaka blush even more.

"Of course, it isn't!" Jäger hissed angrily while he pushed his desk harshly.

His chair rolled back and he ended next to Levi's desk. The brown haired man leaned an elbow on the assistant's desk and clicked his tongue while he observed quietly the background that the raven was drawing effortlessly. Levi decided to ignore the persisting glare that he was subjected to and went back to his drawings. His pen traced lines and he stretched a hand to take his ruler, he needed to calculate a bit the space left in the frame to see if he could place everything there.

"You never answered my question," Jäger suddenly babbled and Levi cursed loudly as his hand had jerked in surprise.

"Fuck, Jäger!" he groaned as he took an eraser and tried to stop the damage. "Are you serious?"

The mangaka looked at him with a straight face, his eyes hiding under his way too long bangs and his hands gently folded over his lap. He was wearing clothes too. Baggy and covered in filth clothes. Levi grimaced. Why was it that whenever Jäger wore clothes, it was the filthiest thing ever? Levi was even beginning to think that seeing the brat naked wasn't so bad if it meant that he was clean.

Yes, it was that bad.

"Of course, I'm serious!" Jäger retorted with a huff. He folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. "It's research material!"

Levi rolled his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows as he finished erasing the atrocious line on his page. Then, he put down the eraser and the ruler before he turned his head, cheek leaning against his palm while he eyed critically the pouting mangaka.

"So you're serious," the raven drawled calmly. "You want me to kick your ass..."

"Yes," the brunette nodded swiftly. His bangs flew a bit and Levi could almost see those dead tired but still full of passion eyes.

' _He has green eyes today_ ,' he thought while he pursed his lips. Who cares about a brat's changing eye color? There was a more important affair going on right now.

"Fuck no," Levi answered sternly. "I won't help you get off with your strange kink."

"W-what?" Jäger blinked and blushed vividly while he waved his hands hysterically. "That's not it! I just want to see the correct angle used for a hit to the jaw!"

"Answer's still no," Levi deadpanned. His lips quirked up a bit as he saw the mangaka flail nervously.

"But why?" He insisted loudly. "You get to punch me and I get my research material! I don't see why you wouldn't want to do it!"

The assistant's lips quirked up a little bit more and he snorted softly. Then, he shook his head slowly and his grey eyes narrowed as he saw the mangaka's face turn into a childish pout.

"Fine," Levi grunted reluctantly. "But just one punch. And that's it."

The brat's eyes could put the oceans to shame with all those sparkles.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

When Erwin finally came over to see if they were going at a good pace for the new chapter, Levi was the one who opened the door. The editor raised his eyebrows in surprise as he took in the sight of his friend dressed into his habitual white shirt and black pants along with the non habitual plastic apron covered in red and the bright yellow plastic gloves. Also covered with that dramatic red.

"Where's Eren?" Erwin immediately asked as he barged into the apart and searched for the mangaka. He quickly found him in his bed, his head lying over his pillow and pretty much entirely covered in bloody bandages. "Levi, what happened."

The raven walked calmly to his desk and sat on his chair, his right foot leaning over his left thigh and his lips tightened.

"Brat asked me to punch him," he drawled.

"He what?"

"Asked me to punch him. Once."

Erwin cursed under his breath and glanced another time at Eren's bloodied face. Or rather at the gigantic hematoma that was the poor boy's face.

"Levi," he hissed angrily. "I told you to play nice!"

"And I did!" the raven retorted with a heavy frown. "I punched him softly. And only one time as I promised."

"Then how did he end like that!" Erwin bellowed as he pointed at the still unconscious mangaka.

Levi avoided his eyes and cleared his throat.

"God, no..." the editor moaned as he raked his fingers through his hair. "Levi... We talked about that!"

"It's not what it looks like, Erwin," the other quickly said. "He's the one who said that his little sister hits harder than me! Of course I had to prove that he was wrong!"

"Levi," Erwin sighed as he was about to pull his hair out of frustration. "His sister is in the Olympic Team of taekwondo. Of course she hits hard!"

Levi blinked and he glanced at the still passed out man in his bed and then at his friend.

"Oh," he said.

"Oh, indeed," Erwin nodded and sighed again. "When Eren wakes up, make sure that he doesn't have a concussion. And tell him that I'll take him to the drama casting next Thursday. Got it?"

Levi shrugged and went back to drawing the backgrounds for the page thirteen. Even if he had send the brat to Lalaland, he wasn't going to make him work overtime.

Erwin sighed for the last time and looked at the mangaka's face.

"I seriously hope that you didn't break his nose," he muttered.

"Don't worry," Levi grumbled absentmindedly. "He put it back before passing out."

"Why doesn't it surprise me?" the blonde muttered as he shook his head. "Don't forget that the chapter must be done by Friday night."

"Yeah, yeah," the assistant shrugged and sent a pointed look at his friend. "Anything else?"

"Play. Nice."

"I'll try to..."

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

When the brat woke up, Levi was finishing the background on the last page. Luckily for the assistant, the mangaka always left clear indications of what needed to be drawn in the corner of each frame. Still, that was a pain to erase later but it helped a lot when the brat was unconscious.

In fact, he was giving the finishing touches for the hero's face in the last page when he heard the distinctive groan of pain behind him. Levi's lips twitched a bit and he slowly put down his pen, switched off his tablet and only then went to look at the mangaka.

Jäger looked like shit. Truth to be told, there wasn't much of his face that Levi could see with all those bloodied bandages and the sunken eyes that hid pretty much everything. Without forgetting that damned long hair that was slightly stuck to his sweaty and bloody face.

"What the hell happened?" the brat asked with a rasp voice.

It sounded almost like an old smoker and Levi pictured for a second the mangaka with a smoke dangling none too innocently between his long fingers, his lips curved into a pleased smile. Then, he remembered that Jäger was only a brat that ignored what personal hygiene was and scowled.

"You fainted like the little shit you are after I punched you," he tersely answered.

Jäger frowned and then moaned in pain because the sole fact of frowning had been painful. He carefully raised a hand and palmed his bruised face, his lips pursing slowly until it became a scowl.

"God," he muttered under his breath but Levi could clearly hear him add ruefully. "What are you? A male Mikasa?"

"Mikasa," Levi stated as he went back to his tablet. He took his pen and began to clean the mess over his desk.

"My sister," the mangaka clarified and a small ruffled followed.

The assistant turned his head to look at him and clicked his tongue in disapproval. Jäger was already trying to get out of his bed and had a pained expression over his face while he began to pull off the bandages.

"What are you doing," Levi asked sternly. "You'll worsen it."

"I heal fast," the brunette shrugged and cursed out loud from the pain that it caused. "And I feel sticky with all that blood crusted on my face. I'm going to take a shower."

"Do that, you stink," the raven approved absentmindedly as he brushed the bits of eraser out of his desk. He threw it in the bin and furrowed his eyebrows.

Why did he feel like he had forgotten something important?

Grey eyes widened in surprise and horror laced before he shot out of the bedroom.

"Wait, brat! Don't shower with hot water!"

The sound of a body falling down loudly answered him and Levi sighed heavily. He opened the door to the bathroom and inwardly shuddered. The brat was naked (No big surprise there) and lying unconsciously on the damp tiles, the shower head covering in blazing hot droplets of water.

"Fuck," Levi cursed as he took off his shirt and socks (like hell he would end like a drenched cat like last time). "You better be fucking grateful, brat."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Once he was sure that he wouldn't end being hellbent on killing the mangaka for pissing him off (again), he opened his eyes and stopped the shower. Then, he effortlessly took the brat in his arms (in a princess hold by the way because the brat was too big) and put him back in his bed.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"So, what's your name?"

"Eren Grisia Jäger," the brat rolled his eyes in exasperation and Levi narrowed his.

"Stop doing that," he hissed threateningly. "What is your sister's name?"

"Do I really have to do that?" Jäger complained like the shitty brat he was. "I'm fine! Really, Levi, I'm fine! I just fainted because I slipped over my soap!"

"Shut up, Jäger," Levi retorted evenly while writing down on his form that the patient didn't remember his sister's name. "Parents' jobs?"

"God, you're so annoying!" the mangaka shouted before leaning back on his pillows. He folded his arms on his chest and pouted childishly. "Fine!" He hissed angrily when he saw his assistant write down that he was an amnesiac idiot. "My sister's name is Mikasa. My father is a doctor in Yamanashi and my mother doesn't work anymore. Is that enough, Mr. Nurse?"

"Yes, it is," Levi growled as he almost broke his pencil. He clearly hadn't appreciated that nickname.

"Good," Jäger scowled and pushed away the comforter, giving his assistant an eyeful of his as always very naked body.

' _Does he shave down there?_ ' Levi pondered.

Because, really, those were a really nice pair of smooth legs. It almost made him reconsider if he did have or not a kink for nice legs. Almost. Because it was clear that Levi didn't get off of a brat's legs.

"Can I work now?" Jäger asked quite rhetorically as he already was sitting in front of his desk and trying to turn on his tablet.

Levi blinked, noticing that the mangaka was now wearing clothes, as always when he worked on his manga, and furrowed his eyebrows.

"No," he answered sternly. "You don't have a commotion but there is a risk. You need to go to the hospital, Jäger."

"Come on," the brat rolled his eyes and began to trace the skeleton of the antagonist, "I heal fast, tomorrow it'll be all forgotten!"

"Jäger," Levi's voice was now insisting and he was already stomping his foot. "Go to the hospital or I'll send you there. In a casket."

"It isn't so bad," the brunette muttered. "I get hit a lot of times, you know?"

Levi frowned and he narrowed his eyes. While the information that the brat had just given him didn't please the less, he still had to get him to the hospital. But, if mere threats didn't do it then he'd have to use the bigger ones.

"Eren," Levi said calmly. "I'll tell Erwin."

The mangaka blinked and put down his pencil. He took his vest and looked at his assistant with a straight face.

"What are you waiting for, Levi? Let's go!" he said almost hysterically.

Levi didn't know if he was pleased by the effectiveness of Erwin's threat of jealous because it had been way more effective than his.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"So, just to make sure, you kicked his ass until he fainted and then forced him to go to the hospital?"

Levi rolled his eyes and nodded reluctantly. He then dropped his eyes to the page in front of him and pursed his lips. The art was so different from the brat's that he was feeling a bit disoriented. But then, Hanji's art specialized in gore and realism with a picture-like feeling while Jäger's was more into gore with a lot of details. And sparkles. (Levi still didn't understand why the shitty brat put so much sparkles. And why the readers loved it so much...)

Hanji cackled loudly and began to hit their desk while they guffawed at the assistant's straight face.

"You're unbelievable!" they exclaimed while they straightened their glasses on their crooked nose (a faint reminder that Levi wasn't to be crossed when he was drunk). The mangaka's brown eyes twinkled in curiosity and they approached their head until their nose was almost touching Levi's. "And what did you tell to the doctor?"

The raven shrugged and put a finger on Hanji's nose to push them away. He didn't like when his personal bubble was breached like that, it was incredibly rude.

"I told them that he had slipped in his shower," he answered once Hanji was back on their chair and swirling while cackling happily.

"And they believed it?" they asked while their eyes twinkled in happiness.

Levi smirked.

"Oooooh," Hanji cooed happily while they swirled faster than before. Their chair finally fell over and they ended sprawled on the floor, their feet lying on a dark haired man's desk. The poor assistant sweated nervously at seeing his employer acting so childishly and he glanced at Levi, his brown eyes calling for his help silently.

"But I can't believe that you got to work with the great Jaeger boy," Hanji added cheerfully.

Levi blinked and looked at them.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked with a frown. "I don't see how working with a brat that ignore everything about hygiene can be so great..."

"That's because you're a clean freak, Levi- _chéri_ ," the mangaka waved their hand and smiled at their other assistant. "Jaeger's work are pretty admirable for such a young boy, right, Moblit?"

Moblit smiled nervously, trying to ignore Levi's glare and nodded slowly.

"His first work was admirable," he commented and then added, with a small frown, "even if the art wasn't so great, the story was impressive. How old is he?"

"Don't know," Levi shrugged. "He's a brat though."

"I see, I see," Hanji rubbed their chin pensively and munched on their lips. Their glasses slipped once again over their nose and they cocked their head. "He must be in his twenty or something along... Right in your strike zone, Levi!"

"Shut up, shitty glasses," the raven grunted and he threw an eraser at them.

Hanji avoided it with a loud laugh and ended sprawled over their desk, scribbling and drawing almost fanatically.

"Still," they whispered wishfully. "If only I got to meet him! I bet that he's a fascinating boy! Did you read his second manga?"

"What was it again?" Moblit muttered pensively as he swiftly used his cutter for some frames. "A comedy? I don't remember a lot, didn't they shoot it down after ten chapters?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Hanji nodded excitedly and clapped their hands. "Erwin told me that the readers didn't like it because it was too different from _Titan_! But Jaeger boy persevered and did another manga before vanishing!"

"Wasn't it ' _Wings of Freedoms'_?" Levi said absentmindedly. "He has been working on a sequel lately..."Hanji stopped drawing and their pencil rolled loudly over their desk. The brown haired mangaka gasped loudly and swiftly jumped over Levi's back, hugging the life out of the poor assistant.

"Oh my sweet god! Bless you, you little clean freak! That was the best news ever!" Hanji shouted happily while they smothered Levi in their arms. "Did you hear that, Moblit, there will be a sequel! We will finally know what happened to that poor Herman, Thuis and Hunter!"

"What the hell are those names?" Levi muttered while he struggled to get out of Hanji's grasp.

But it was without success as Hanji could be strong as hell whenever they were hysterical.

"We need to tell it to everyone!" the mangaka babbled happily while they went to fetch their phone, Levi still in their arms. "Everyone!"

Levi was slowly turning blue.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"Welcome back," the brat told him as Levi opened the front door.

The assistant blinked and he closed the door behind him, noticing that the mangaka was still as naked as ever.

"Don't you ever get cold?" he asked while he put his duffel bag on the floor and took off his shoes.

Jäger raised his eyebrows and looked at his body, his eyes widening in confusion while he ran a hand through his hair and pushing his bangs out of his forehead.

"No, never," he answered sincerely. "Should I?"

"Seems like the legends are true," Levi commented with a small shrug. "The idiots never catch colds then. How nice for you..."

The mangaka frowned and he pursed his lips.

"Hey!" he shouted unhappily. "I'm not an idiot!"

"I never said it," the assistant smirked and he took his duffel bag before he passed next to the younger man, their chests almost colliding.

"You... I... Gah! Forget it," Jäger muttered as he shook his head. He turned and went to his room before stopping in front of his closed door. "How was your weekend?" he asked with a small voice, looking straight at his door.

Levi raised an amused eyebrow and smirked slightly.

"Interesting," he drawled. "Hanji says hello and wants your autograph."

"I want theirs too," the mangaka turned his head to look at his assistant and Levi wasn't surprised by those sparkling eyes.

' _Teal colored today',_  he thought.

"I'll ask next time then," the raven shrugged and put his bag in his bedroom. He froze at the door, his eyes taking in the sight of the open window, the folded futon and the sparkling clean floor. He turned to face the brunette who was still looking at him with sparkling teal eyes and a wide smile on his young looking face and the assistant blinked slowly. "Did you clean my room?"

Jäger slightly blushed and nervously scratched his neck.

"So what if I did?" he muttered while he looked everywhere except at Levi.

"Heh," the latter chuckled and he put his duffel bag next to his futon. "Not bad, Eren."

The brunette blushed vividly and he quickly put a hand over his face to hide it. However, it was too late and Levi smirked smugly.

"What is it, brat," he said as he approached the blushing man. "Are you flustered just because I praised you? Is that turning you on?"

The mangaka scowled and he put his hand down, his eyes turning green while he glared at his assistant.

"Not at all," he retorted angrily. "Why must you be such a prick?"

"Don't know," Levi shrugged and he smirked cockily while he got out of his bedroom and stopped right in front of the other man. "That was quite a blush, Jäger, it went all the way to your shoulders too..."

The brat rolled his eyes and stomped his way to his bedroom.

"Tease all you want," he said while he opened the door and went to his desk. "I'll keep being naked outside of my room."

"Damn," Levi cursed and he followed the mangaka. "Was I too obvious?"

"You had the same finesse as a bull in a china shop," Jäger retorted with a small smile.

He was putting a big T-shirt as well as pants on and Levi sighed.

"You say that and yet you're wearing clothes now," he stated. "Trying to understand you is tiring..."

"Then don't try to understand it," the mangaka shrugged and switched on his tablet. "I need to do the front page of next month Survey Corps' cover, can you help me with the colors?"

"Sure."

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"No, no, no!" Levi screeched as he pushed the brat away from the door. "You won't open the door when you're like that!"

"Why?" Jäger retorted with a puzzled look. "I've always done it, you know?"

"Goddammit, Jäger, don't you remember those scout girls's faces from last time? If you weren't a pretty boy, their mothers would have put you on a trial!"

The mangaka blushed slightly and scratched his neck.

"So you think I'm a pretty boy, Levi?" he asked with a smug smile.

"That's not the point, Jäger," the assistant deadpanned. "You won't open the door. Go put some pants on or I'll kick your ass until you become a woman, is that clear?"

"Is that even possible?" the brunette muttered as he went into his room obediently.

Levi sighed heavily, sometimes he felt as if he lived with a hyperactive five years old. Then, remembering that someone was still knocking at their door, he finally opened it. The assistant blinked, observing critically the blond young man standing in front of him.

"You aren't Eren," the blond stated with a frown. Yet, even if he frowned, there wasn't any eyebrows on his face.

"No shit, Sherlock," Levi retorted as he folded his arms on his chest. "What happened to your eyebrows, they got sick of your shit and left you?"

The blond's frown increased and the raven smiled pleasantly at him.

"Listen here, you little bastard," the blond hissed threateningly at him. "What did you do to Eren..."

"Oh?" Levi cocked his head and narrowed his eyes while he smirked with mirth at the stranger. "Seems like someone's pretty possessive here... What? Did you substitute your lost eyebrows by that shitty brat?"

The blond growled and took hold of Levi's shirt while the raven calmly looked at him, his smirk still taunting him.

"Goddammit, Levi," Jäger's annoyed voice suddenly cut through the tension and the assistant's smirk widened when he saw the stranger look at him in confusion. "Don't treat my friends like that."

"Friends?" Levi repeated with a raised eyebrow. "I only see one person..."

"Berthold is always with Reiner," the mangaka shrugged and then smiled at the blond. "How are you, Reiner? I heard that you were back in town the other day."

"Did Armin tell you?" the blond answered in a gruff voice while he finally let go of Levi's shirt. The assistant scowled when he saw that it had almost been ripped by the brute force exerted.

"Yeah," Jäger said while his smile widened. "Where's Berthold?"

"He's moving our stuff back in the apartment," Reiner pointed at the street and shrugged. "Told me to say hello for him."

"Still as shy as ever," the brunette commented in a heartwarming voice.

The blond chuckled and then straightened his face as he glared at Levi.

"So is this the Levi that Armin told me about?" he asked with a sneer. "Doesn't look that impressive though..."

"Reiner..." Jäger immediately stopped him with a cold voice. "Don't, he hits like Mikasa."

"Really?" Reiner's eyes bulged and he laughed loudly before he clasped the assistant's shoulder harshly. "I wonder how you found out about that, Eren..."

"So, you're going to keep talking like I'm not here?" Levi drawled carelessly, his eyes glinting like steel while he glared at the blond. "Because if that's the case, I can always go back to my draft..."

"Sure," the mangaka smiled at him and looked insistingly at his friend.

Reiner sighed heavily and reluctantly let go of the raven's shoulder.

"Asshole," he muttered low enough so only Levi could hear him.

"Maybe that's where your eyebrows ended," he retorted with a straight face.

Levi smiled smugly when he entered Jäger's bedroom, he had clearly seen the blond's face contort in anger before he left. Yes, he still had it in it. He could still piss off people at the brink of a hat.

"I swear, Reiner, he's a nice guy!"

"Eren, even you don't believe it..."

Levi chuckled darkly.

God, it felt good to be him.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

When Thursday came, Levi was lunging around, thinking of a nice story for his debut manga (a man could dream) and Jäger was finishing the color in the front page. The apartment was as quiet as it had never been since Levi's arrival and the two men sighed in happiness, basking in the quietness and lack of rush that was simply unusual.

And then, it came.

Erwin barged in the apartment, his normally perfect hair messy and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Eren!" he said with a chiding voice. "Why aren't you in the parking lot ready? Why aren't you even ready!"

The mangaka blinked in surprise and glanced at Levi. The assistant shrugged, he also didn't know why the editor was so nervous.

"Uuuuh..." the brunette said nervously as he gulped once he met Erwin's bloodshot eyes. "Why was I supposed to do that?"

"The drama casting, Eren! I told you to be ready last week!" Erwin almost shouted.

"Last week?" Jäger frowned and put down his pencil. "You didn't come last week. I sent you the chapter by scan. You didn't come here, Mr. Smith..."

"Yes, I did," Erwin sighed heavily and ran his hands through his matted hair. "But you were unconscious so I told Levi to tell y-..." The frazzled editor stopped talking and looked at the assistant. " ** _Levi_**."

"I forgot," the raven immediately said. "It happens to everyone. Shit, Erwin, I forgot."

" _ **Levi**_ ," the blond repeated darkly.

"Uuuuh," Jäger said nervously. "I'll go suit up, okay? Try to not kill him, Mr. Smith, I need him around..."

"Thanks, Jäger. It's very appreciated," Levi said dryly.

"You're welcome!" the mangaka should from behind the closed bathroom door.

" _ **Levi**_..."

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

"I'm ready, I'm ready!" Eren shouted as he barged into his bedroom.

To immediately get out and close the door behind him.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't..." he babbled nervously as he creaked open the door with his eyes closed, the picture of those two men's limbs interlaced on his bed still in his mind. "Oh my god, I didn't mean to interrupt you and I'm so sorry..."

"Brat," Levi's voice cut through the fog of his nervousness and Eren blinked, noticing that his assistant was in fact struggling to keep his editor's hands away from his throat. "A little help would be great right now..."

"O-of course, sir!" Eren answered and he went into his room, standing behind Erwin nervously. "Hum, Mr. Smith, I'm ready. Shouldn't we go before we are really late?"

The editor sighed heavily and finally stopped trying to kill his assistant. He stood up, straightened his bolo tie and looked approvingly at Eren's suit.

"Really nice," he commented before glancing at Levi. "Don't you think so too?"

The cranky raven blinked and sat on Eren's bed, his grey eyes observing critically the mangaka's suit.

"Who would have thought that he could dress up so nicely," he grumbled.

"There you have it," Erwin smiled slightly at Eren who blinked in confusion. "That means that he loves it."

"W-what?" Eren felt the beginning of a blush creep up and he swiftly looked at his feet, noting however that his assistant wasn't chuckling at him like he did every time he blushed or acted shyly.

The brunette blinked and looked up, discovering with surprise that the raven was actually covering his reddened cheeks with a hand and looking at the comforter.

 _'Oh_ ,' Eren could only think monosyllabic words after that discovering. " _That's... Cute_.'

It was at that moment that Levi looked at him and glared darkly almost as if he had heard his thoughts. Eren blushed vividly and almost ran out of his apartment, pushing Erwin in front of him.

"Fuck," Levi muttered once he was all alone in the apartment. "After the legs, now a suit kink?"

Little did he know that it was only the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear to god that writing Hanji as a non-binary character was the hardest thing ever. It just doesn't go with all the rules the French taught me. But then again, this is English... And I'm babbling again.
> 
> Also, between every chapter, months can pass by so it explains a bit why they act so familiarly. And I think that I don't even anything else to say.


	4. Castings and Technology are a (necessary) pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says everything. Or where Erwin is bloody scary when he's driving, Eren finds out that he can get car sick and Levi is tired of their shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know where this is going...

"Here, read this."

Eren blinked and looked with confusion at the phone that was being pushed in his hand. He cocked his head and glanced at his editor, noticing how the blond was looking ahead at the road while clenching his fingers on the steering wheel. The older man cursed under his breath and changed the car speed while he narrowly avoided another car. The horns began to bark loudly and Erwin gave the other annoyed conductor the bird before taking the exit of the highway.

Because Eren didn't want to keep watching how fast they were going, he decided to listen to his editor (the man was already angry at him. Better not worsen his mood) and looked at the phone. It was the latest smartphone and the mangaka furrowed his eyebrows.

He had never been good with technology so he couldn't quite understand how to use it. He tentatively touched the screen and his eyes widened when the screen lightened and showed him a keyboard with only numbers.

"Huuuuh," Eren drawled as he glanced nervously at his editor.

Erwin turned sharply at the corner and the mangaka blinked. He could swear that he had just seen his life flash behind his eyes.

Oh god, he was totally going to die here. And he still hadn't had the opportunity to see if his assistant was a yakuza.

"Yes, Eren?" Erwin asked him politely. Just before he glared daggers at another car and insulted the conductor in German.

The mangaka gulped loudly. Sometimes, he wasn't so happy to be of German heritage. Those times were mostly when he was faced with his editor's rather short temper behind the steering wheel.

"I..." Eren spluttered nervously. "I need a password!"

' _Good_ ,' he congratulated himself. ' _You didn't show how afraid you are of him. Keep going like that, Jäger!'_

Yes, that pep talk was totally needed. Erwin Smith was way more terrifying than Levi in his bad days. Like a hell lot more.

"Ah, I forgot about that," the editor chuckled happily (Eren almost whimpered in fear) and he pushed the accelerator again. The car jumped and passed a Ferrari.

Eren saw the Ferrari conductor look at him with eyes filled with pity.

"0914," Erwin added while they drifted on the asphalt.

They drifted in the extremely jammed roads of Tokyo. Eren was already gagging in horror. But he quickly recomposed his mind and taped the password on the screen. Finally, he got to see what his editor wanted him to read.

"Twitter?" He read while he scrunched his face. "What is it?"

The car suddenly stopped and, hadn't it been for the security belt, Eren would have crashed right through the window. Erwin didn't seem to care about it and shook his head while he swiftly manoeuvred the vehicle to squeeze it in a parking place.

"Sometimes," the editor commented with a small chuckle. "I wonder which of us is the younger one. In which era do you live, Eren?"

The brunet pouted and continued observing the screen.

"What's  _'Play_Ducking_Nice'_?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows.

His editor chuckled and took off his security belt.

"It's more like:  _'Who's Play_Ducking_Nice',_  Eren," he corrected happily.

Eren waited for the editor to further his explanation but Erwin just got out of the car with a smile on par and began to walk to the nearest building. The mangaka grumbled and took off his security belt, thanking the gods to have put it beforehand because Erwin was the scariest thing ever when he was in a car, and followed his editor.

"Then who is Play_Ducking_Nice?" Eren asked with an eyeroll.

"Ah," Erwin exclaimed happily as he smiled at someone behind the brunet. "Levi."

"What?!" the mangaka exclaimed with surprise as he swiftly turned around. "He's here?! That asshole could have told me! It would have saved me from the ride with y-..." Eren gulped loudly when he realised that he had been blabbering in front of Erwin and a perfect stranger. "I'll shut up..." he grimaced and tried to hide his nervous blush.

"Go on," his editor waved carelessly his hand as they walked to the elevator. "We're already late so you can take your time, Eren. What were you saying?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Eren dipped his head and glared at his feet. (He noticed just as the elevator doors opened with a ding that he was wearing Levi's shoes. God, his assistant was going to kill him) The mangaka glanced around him nervously, trying to find something, anything, to change the topic so he wouldn't end killed by his already way too angry editor and his eyes widened in relief when he saw the blonde's phone. "So...  _Twitter_!" he said perkily while praying to every existing god that it would be enough for Erwin.

It was enough.

"Yes," Erwin nodded while the doors closed behind them.

They were alone in the elevator and Eren furrowed his eyebrows when the annoying music began. It was some kind of jazz version of the latest single in Japan. And he hated it. Mostly because he had heard Levi humming it whenever they were working late and it had ended being a reminder of those long and atrocious nights were the only things he heard were that annoying hum and Levi's insults.

Eren sighed. Now that he thought about it, his life was kind of sad.

"Nowadays, it has become fairly popular for writers and mangaka to have a blog or a twitter account to interact with their fans," Erwin added and Eren blinked, shaking away his gloomy aura.

"A blog?" the brunet repeated with furrowed eyebrows.

He could remember his childhood where everyone had used to have one. But then, Eren hadn't been like everyone and had preferred to play and run around with Mikasa and Armin. (Poor Armin was always dead tired by the end of their games)

"Yes," his editor nodded and sighed softly. "What you have there," he pointed at his smartphone with a wry smile, "is Levi's twitter account."

"Levi," Eren said. He blinked. "Levi," this time, his voice was more confused and he looked at the screen (once again black) with disbelief. "Are you telling me that Levi, the Levi who's always trying to kill me, has a blog?!"

"Twitter account," Erwin corrected.

"Whatever," Eren snorted and looked intensively at the phone. "And he writes in it?"

"Yes," Erwin said just as the doors opened to their floor. "All the time."

The mangaka narrowed his eyes and scrunched his nose. He could remember that he had seen sometimes his assistant with his phone. But he had always shrugged it off, thinking that the man was only texting his girlfriend (or sexting her if Levi was capable of that. Eren really doubted it,  _it was Levi for Pete's sake_ ). Or underlings if Levi was really part of the yakuza. (Or sexting his underlings, who knows. Maybe that was what made him hot and flustered) Eren grimaced and decided to change his way of thinking, it was downright unhealthy. So Levi, it was. The terrifying and extremely easy to anger little man. The one who liked to make him shiver in pure fear every night. The one who claimed that he didn't have time to waste with a brat. The one so secretions that Eren didn't even know his full name.

But he had been writing in his twitter whatever account.

Eren's eyes suddenly widened and began to sparkle as he snickered evilly. If he read that blog and found some nasty secrets in it, Levi would be the only one to blame. The brunet quickly put Erwin's password and submersed himself in Levi's twitter account. And, because he clearly was an inept at everything electronic, he ended gasping with a lost look. Mostly because he didn't know what to do to find out everything about Levi.

"Eren?" Erwin called him while he blocked the doors of the elevator.

"Y-yes!" Eren exclaimed as he jumped in surprised. The phone almost escaped his hands and he squeaked nervously while securing it in his two hands.

The mangaka promptly got out of the elevator and followed his editor in the corridor before they stopped in front of a door. Not that Eren noticed it because he had just realised what his almost lost of smartphone had done. Without really knowing how, he had ended selecting Levi's first messages. And, god, it was amazing.

「I ducking hate autocorrect.」

「Why the bell are you following me?」

「Ducking autocorrect...」

「kdkqkldgrrrraaaaa」

Seriously, pure gold.

Eren snickered and he quickly graved in his mind each and every of Levi's tweets. This was too much of a good opportunity to let it pass.

"Eren," Erwin called another time and the mangaka quickly followed the blond into a conference room.

There were a lot of people there. Most were sitting in uncomfortable plastic chairs and Eren nodded as a greeting to some of then. They had previously met when his first work, Titan, had been adapted as a drama years ago.

"There you are," a man in his forties commented with a small sigh. "We were about to proceed without you, Jäger-san!"

Eren's lips twitched and he glanced at his editor. Erwin was giving a cold glare to the man and the mangaka decided to not comment on it. Erwin was a seasoned editor, he was the one who knew best for those kind of things.

"The streets were pretty jammed," Erwin said lightly as he took a seat, Eren following him like a duckling. "But we got here on time so let's begin the reunion."

"Fine," the man pursed his lips into a sneer and shrugged slightly. "We already discussed the scenario and the settings. What is left are the actors."

"About that," Eren suddenly cleared his throat and almost flinched when he was met with the director's bloodshot eyes. Except that those eyes were nothing against Levi's  _'I'm so tired of your shit_ ' eyes. The mangaka relaxed his shoulders and put a pleasant smile on his lips. "I want to be the one who'll decide the actors."

The director frowned and Eren's eyes glinted. He knew what was going to follow. After all, the same things had happened when Titan had been adapted into a movie. But this time, he was going to fight teeth and nail to defend his work.

Hollywood had transformed his Cyclop, the hero who had always lived in a putrid cell and thrived for freedom, into a whiny pretty boy. Eren was not going to let that happen to Hunter. Not this time.

"Listen here, Jäger-san," the director sighed heavily. "The casting director has already picked the actors, we're about to select the main actors tomorrow. Don't worry, we'll take your words seriously so you can relax and concentrate into your manga, okay?"

Eren gritted his teeth and tightened his fists under the table. He could faintly see the woman sitting next to him shifting nervously, her brown eyes glancing at the director and then at him. From what he could read of the tag hanging around her neck, she was on the casting team.

"Mr. Reeves," the woman said with a sharp voice, surprising Eren by the alertness that she showed even when it was clear that she was nervous around him. "The author's insight would be extremely helpful for us. Also, it could make a nice advertisement."

The director frowned and leaned back on his chair, the plastic creaking loudly while he crossed his legs. Erwin followed his moves with cold eyes, his face set on stone, while Eren licked briefly his lips.

"Whatever," Reeves shrugged. "I want the cast ready by tomorrow morning."

"Very well," the woman nodded with a faint smile.

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

"Do you have already some names for the actors?" the woman, who had presented herself as Rico, asked while she cleaned her glasses with a black handkerchief.

Eren blinked and stopped looking intensively at the handkerchief (why was it black? The snot would be way too visible on it!) to instead look at the woman.

"Huuuuh," he drawled nervously.

Erwin sighed heavily and facepalmed discreetly while he tried to ignore how much of a fool Eren was passing as. And the boy was called a genius...

Genius maybe, but he clearly didn't have an idea about what they were talking about.

Sometimes, Erwin really wondered if Eren wasn't some kind of extremely secret experiment that had escaped from a medical facility. Because, really, his problems with technology were astounding. And it would explain with his parents hadn't wanted to let him go to Tokyo. Indeed, it would explain a lot.

But Eren Jäger was just a young man who clearly didn't give a shit about technology and liked to draw manga. Too bad for Erwin's theories.

Rico sighed and took some files out of her passenger bag. They were both full to their brim and Eren cocked his head as he tried to see what they contained. The woman smiled tightly at them and pushed one of the files, who had a big and red "Male Cast" written over it, towards the two men. The mangaka gaped a bit while he glanced at his editor to look for his approval. As Erwin was still busy remembering all the times where Eren had failed him with something related to technology or modernity, the blond didn't seem to notice Eren's insisting gaze and the brunette slightly coughed before he stretched a hand to open the file.

Some pictures fell from the file and Eren had to kneel on the floor to retrieve them. He observed the unknown faces in the pictures and understood that they were shots from the casting. He narrowed his eyes and swiftly went back to his seat, pushing aside the bangs falling over his eyes as he needed to see everything perfectly.

"Those two," Rico said as she pointed two of the fallen pictures that had been placed on the table. "What do you think of these two?"

Eren furrowed his eyebrows and observed the men's square jaw as well as their delicately plucked eyebrows. He racked his eyes on the nameless faces, feeling as if he had actually already seen them somewhere else.

"They won't do," he shook his head and began looking into the rest of the shots. Suddenly, he halted his search, his hand hovering over one of the pictures while he lightly gnawed on his lip. "This one... Do you have a video of his acting?"

"Let me see," Rico hunched over the table, cocking her head so she could see the actor's face and she pursed her lips. "Ah... This one, huh? He made quite an impression during his casting, he doesn't have much of charisma, though."

"Is that so?" Eren lowered his eyes on the shot and observed the amiable face with those gentle brown eyes.

Erwin observed him from the corner of his eyes and shuffled on his uncomfortable chair. He could already see the telltale signs of Eren's interest for the nameless actor. He then glanced at the picture. The blond raised a perplexed eyebrow while he took in the sight of the brown haired young man with a lot of freckles all over his face. Those were going to be a hassle to cover with makeup. But he had to trust the mangaka's insight on this. After all, the last time that he hadn't done it, it had ended with Eren hiding in some remote place of Japan and the adapted movie being extremely bad.

"So?" the editor asked with an overly sweet voice. "Do you have footage?"

Rico looked at him in silence and finally stood before she went out of the room and came back with a laptop in her hands. Silently, she clicked on the keyboard and pushed the laptop over Erwin and Eren's side. The two watched with rapt eyes the short video of the freckled man's casting.

The video ended after two minutes of footage and Eren cleared in throat after some seconds. The two adults looked at him with attentive eyes and the mangaka scratched nervously his neck.

"He'll be Herman," he announced.

"Eh?" Rico blinked and glanced from the picture to the mangaka's face before she rubbed her forehead with a heavy sigh. "Him? As Herman?"

"Yes," Eren nodded and looked back at the video. He pressed start and noticed details that he had overlooked on the first watch. "He has the mimics down to a notch and the smile is perfect."

"Wasn't Herman supposed to be blond and small?" Erwin asked with a puzzled look.

"He just has to wear a wig then," Eren shrugged.

"Right," Rico muttered while she suddenly perked up from her seat and narrowed her eyes. "So he is your Herman?" Eren nodded and she pursed her lips. "Then do you have a Hunter?"

The mangaka tilted his head and pensively held his chin in one hand while the other idly played with his bangs. "Yeah," he breathed as he briefly closed his eyes. "I do."

"And who might that be?" the woman inquired as she glanced at the pictures on the table.

Eren scowled and creaked open an eye to glare at the pictures. "He isn't there," he explained before he added under his breath, "that jerk..."

Erwin looked at him with disapproval before he suddenly remembered which actor had provoked such reaction from the mangaka. There was only one who came to his mind. The editor's blue eyes widened in surprise and he smiled fondly at the young man. If he was right with the name, then it meant that Eren had matured and accepted to push aside his petty resentment over an old feud.

"I'll call him," Erwin said as he looked for his phone in his jacket pocket. However he couldn't find it and he frowned, not remembering when he had last seen it.

"Here," Eren told him as he gave him his phone. "Thanks for showing me that, by the way."

"You're welcome," the editor smiled at his mangaka and he swiftly dialed the number.

This was going to be a long night but they had at least found two of the three main leads.

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

When the morning came around, Erwin was escorting a droopy eyed Eren to his car. The young man was stumbling in front of his editor, sometimes even flailing his arms because he had slipped over nothing. Heavy and dark rings seemed to be permanently tattooed under his forest green eyes and the mangaka loudly yawned as Erwin took the highway (he drove slower than before so it was a small miracle for Eren).

But, just as Eren was falling asleep, the brunette felt something vibrate in his pocket and he furrowed his brows. In his drowsy state, he clumsily searched for whatever was vibrating in his pocket and slightly widened his eyes when he found Erwin's phone. There was a small message on the illuminated screen and Eren made a puzzled face when he read it.

[Play_Ducking_Nice: Who the fuck calls his protagonist Hunter Yeager? An idiot, that's who.]

Eren clicked his tongue in annoyance. While it was true that he had named his hero on a whim, he didn't like people dissing his characters for such a petty reason. Even more when it was people he knew.

But before he could insult his assistant in his head, the smartphone buzzed once again in his hand and he almost let it slip from his fingers. Luckily for him (as it was Erwin's loved phone), he didn't let it fall and Eren sighed in relief. Erwin glanced at him with a raised brow but the mangaka quickly asked him to keep his eyes on the road.

Erwin was going to kill him with that reckless driving if he kept looking at him and not at the road.

And it was soon proved true when the blond swore (loudly. And in German too) before he sharply turned the wheel and avoided by a single speck of dust an old lady strolling with her trolley. In fact, she was the only one awake at this early hour and Erwin made a point to tell her (once again, loudly and in German) that only crazy old coots like her got out of bed at such an ungodly hour.

Then, before the old lady could even retort to his tirade in German, Erwin sped and made another sharp turn. The tires screeched on the asphalt and Eren gritted his teeth while he prayed for his soul. He was too young to die.

And, as Erwin continued speeding and the brown haired man felt his stomach do a somersault (it would totally have been graced by a golden medal at the Olympic Games), Eren remembered what had debuted all of this debacle.

So, the mangaka did the only thing to do. He glanced at Erwin's phone and gasped as if he had been sucker-punched.

[Play_Ducking_Nice: Seems like I have to explain myself to all of you little shits:]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: Let's make it simple enough for your little pea-sized brains…]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: "Hunter" in English means what?]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: if you can't answer that one, I've lost hope in humanity…]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: @impetranotarock, thanks for proving that you do have a brain.]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: Trickier now: "Yeager" in German means what?]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: @oluonotauruo: bite your tongue and bleed to death. Same for you, Shitty Glasses.]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: Nobody took German in high school? I fear for Japan's future…]

And that was it.

Eren snorted, Levi's shitty humor was really appreciated if he believed all those fiery reply his assistant sent to those who bothered him (and they were a lot). But nobody had answered his last question and the brown haired man rolled his eyes.

"Come on," he muttered to himself as he considered answering it himself. "It isn't that difficult…"

Erwin didn't seem to hear his mutters and Eren finally decided to answer Levi's question. Mostly because he wanted to get back to his assistant after his insult to his characters. Eren didn't take it lightly at all when someone did it after all. And he had always been a rancorous kid back in his youth.

So Eren clumsily wrote the answer and lightly bit his tongue while he concentrated on which button he was supposed to click on to send his message. Finally, he found it and relaxed on the leather seat when it was done. His eyes slowly closed and he let out a satisfied sigh.

The smartphone violently buzzed and Eren was startled awake from his almost comatose state.

"W-what?" he blubbered nervously only to remember that he was still in Erwin's car and that his editor was dangerous right now so he better shut up if he wanted to see tomorrow.

So Eren shut up and glanced at the phone who had dared to shake him away from Morpheus' arms. What a pity because he really liked those arms. Even more when he had had two all-nighters and just wanted to sleep.

But there it was. The damned phone (and that quickly reminded Eren why he hated technology so much). The mangaka blearily dialed the password and was quickly rewarded by another of Levi's tweet.

[Play_Ducking_Nice: Goddammit, Bushybrows, are you still texting and driving? I won't go to your funeral if you die.]

Eren chuckled and decided to answer his assistant. Mostly because he was in Erwin's car and really needed to think of something else than how fast they were going.

[Erwin_Smith: erwin's driving but i'm the one texting.]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: Of fucking course, it had to be the shitty brat…]

[Erwin_Smith: ur point being?]

[Play_Ducking_Nice: I swear to god, Shitty Brat, if you don't type correctly, I'll kill you in your sleep!]

[Erwin_Smith: u cant, erwin will get mad cuz i havent finished yet chpter 15]

[HanjestheBomb: OMG! ARE YOU REALLY EREN JÄGER? IM YOUR BIGGEST FAN! PLEASE, LET ME HAVE YOUR FIRSTBORN!]

Eren chortled and suddenly noticed that the car had stopped. He blinked in surprise and glanced at Erwin. His manager was looking at him with a pleased smirk that didn't bode well with the younger man.

What could Erwin have in mind?

"I see that you caught the hang of tweeting," Erwin commented while his smile widened when he noticed Eren's nervous blush.

"Sorry about that," the mangaka muttered. "I used your account without asking first…"

"Doesn't really matter," Erwin shrugged and opened the door before he turned his head towards Eren and winked at him. "Follow me, you're going to like this."

The mangaka gulped and nervously got out of the car. His shivering legs almost faltered in his steps (but that was probably because he was still scared shitless from Erwin's reckless driving) but Eren quickly got over it and followed his manager.

The latter was standing just in front two automatic doors and he gave the brunette another wink before he went in the shop.

Eren actually was impressed that the shop was open when nobody sane was awake.  
But then, if he had actually paid attention to where they had gone for this impromptu stop, the mangaka would have understood.

Eren got into the store and walked with wide eyes as he watched the endless aisles full of cellphones and a lot of technological stuff that he had never really understood nor wanted to.

He quickly joined Erwin and stood next to the blonde, looking with curiosity at the phone (that clearly wasn't his manager's, it was a glittery pink color for starters) that the man was observing with judging eyes.

"What was I supposed to like?" Eren asked as he furrowed his brows.

He had the annoying feeling that someone was looking insistingly at him and it made him shudder. The mangaka raked his hand through his long hair and winced when his fingers got stuck on some knots.

Gods, it was more than time to cut his hair.

Eren sighed and pensively bit his lips, he needed to finish the chapter fifteen before he could take a day off and actually go to a hairdresser's and get his hair cut (but winter was coming and having long hair could be a bonus… Decisions, decisions everywhere). And before he even did that, he had to survive another drive with Erwin (Eren felt his soul leave his body at that reminder).

"This," Erwin pushed the pink atrocity in the mangaka's hands and Eren blinked.

He looked down at the glittery pink smartphone and felt his breath hitch when he realized that his manager was taunting him.

"Very funny," he commented as he put the phone back on its place.

The feeling that someone was watching him came back and Eren shuddered. Erwin raised his (really big and bushy, not that Eren would ever tell him though) eyebrows and slightly pursed his lips while he glanced at something behind the mangaka.

"Come," the blond muttered as he put a hand on Eren's back and gently pushed him to another aisle.

They stopped in front of brand new tablets and Eren looked at them with starstruck eyes.

While it was true that he wasn't keen on every technological gadget that everyone of his age frequently used, Eren did like tablets. Mostly because he used a graphic tablet for his manga (and Levi was always on his back nagging him that his tablet was way too old and was going to die on him during one of their deadline) and he liked its multifunctions.

"Choose one," Erwin told him with a bright smile.

Eren widened his eyes in surprise and he gaped at his manager.

While he had known Erwin for years (the man had been his manager since his first publication in Survey Corps and that had been when he was a snotty brat who thought he was the best thing since sliced bread), the man had never offered anything without something in his scheming little blond head.

Eren was pretty sure that Armin and him were distantly related. Also, he feared the day that those two would join their terrifying brains against him.  
The world would be fucked. As simple as that.

So Eren decided to be prudent for once in his life and he carefully glanced at the tablets and then at his manager.

Seconds passed. The silence became unbearable and the brunet nervously gnawed on his dry lips.

"Why," he ended asking in a suspicious voice.

"Can't you really believe that I just want to celebrate your second adaptation by offering you a new tablet?" Erwin retorted with heartwarming smile.

Eren didn't buy it.

The young man scrunched his face in disbelief and tilted his head while he double-checked that nothing was wrong with the tablets.  
Who knows, maybe Erwin had selected those tablets because he knew that they had a dysfunction.

The blond was a really petty man and Eren had learned it years ago after his little holiday in the mountains. (Actually, the mangaka was pretty sure that the man was still making him pay for all those horrible times he had to talk with his sister and try to calm her)

Erwin chuckled as he had noticed Eren's evident disbelief and he softly shook his head.

"It's mostly to get Levi off my back," he admitted with a small shrug. "He's always pestering me on your old tablet and that he don't want to have it die when you really need it."

"I don't believe you," Eren immediately retorted while he frowned. "That man can't say something like that. It's against his religion."

"Religion?" the blond repeated with an amused smile.

Seriously, Erwin was way too happy for someone who had went through an all-nighter. Eren was impressed.

"Satanism," the mangaka explained with a shrug. "But I'm also pretty sure that he's Satan's incarnation…Can be the two, though"

Erwin snorted.

The proud and Captain America's clone actually snorted and Eren raised his brows in shock while he watched his normally stern faced manager hid his face in his hands and giggle like a little boy.

"Come on," the blond said in between his chuckles. "Choose a tablet and let's get you home."

Eren scrunched his nose and made a face.

"Do I really have to?" he muttered as the memory of his assistant's annoyed face came to his mind.

"Yes," Erwin sternly told him once his laugh stopped. "Now choose a tablet, I still have to teach you how to use Twitter and pretty much every other social website."

Eren groaned as if he had been told that he was going to be tortured for the rest of his life. And carelessly selected one of the tablets (the cheaper because it wouldn't do if he chose the most expensive).

His manager swiftly took the tablet Eren had pointed and just as his hands had touched the box, a man jumped from another aisle and smiled widely at them.

"Do you need any help?" the salesperson chirped, making Eren flinch at such an overly happy tone so early in the morning.

"Not really," Erwin answered with a slight smile seconds before he narrowed his eyes and continued in a hushed voice. "But would you be kind enough to delete all the pictures you took of us?"

The salesman loudly gulped and quickly bobbed his head. He took his phone out of his pocket and Eren widened his eyes when he saw that the man had indeed taken shots of Erwin and him.

"Great," the blond's smile widened and he put a hand on the salesperson's shoulder. "Now, how about you give us a nice discount, I'm sure that your boss would agree…"

The salesman squeaked weakly and acquiesced once again.

' _Indeed_ ,' Eren thought as he followed the terrified salesman and the smirking manager. ' _If Armin and Erwin ever joined their forces, we're fucked.'_

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

Finally, after what had seemed to have taken years, Eren was back in the moving coffin that Erwin called car. His manager quickly went back to his crazy self (as always when he was behind the wheel) and the mangaka decided to force himself to sleep before he puked everywhere on the blond's leather seats.

Thus, he welcomed Morpheus' arms and sighed happily.

The ride home went without any problem and Eren grumbled when he was shook awake.

"Eren," Erwin told him in a soft voice. "You're home. Come on, get up and go to sleep."

The mangaka groaned and he blearily cracked an eye open before he clumsily got out of the car and almost fell on someone. Eren mumbled a vague sorry and hobbled to his home, his feet weighing more and more as time passed.

In fact, he stopped in front of the stairs to his apartment. He just couldn't find the strength in him to climb them and Eren seriously considered to just fall asleep there on the ground.

The brunette vaguely heard someone sigh and he was suddenly lifted on a fireman hold. A bony shoulder dug on his stomach and Eren spluttered, his eyes widening in surprise (and slight pain. That shoulder was really bony, okay?) while he suddenly realized that he wasn't standing.

"W-what?" he squeaked as the person holding him began to walk.

"Shut up," Eren felt the shoulder dig even more in his stomach and he immediately shut up.

Also, he may have wet himself because the person who had spoken (and was holding him) was his terrifying assistant.

"You left the bathroom in a fucking mess," the latter growled as he kicked their door open with a foot.

Eren shrieked when he felt Levi's slightly stumble on his feet and scrunched his face in preparation of a painful fall. However, it didn't happen and the mangaka sighed in relief.

Levi kept walking towards Eren's bedroom and the brown haired man gave a small yelp when he was suddenly thrown on his bed.

"There," Levi muttered with an annoyed face (not that Eren could see it as he had his face full of his comforter). "I give you three hours, don't waste them."

"What?" the mangaka moaned pitifully. "That's not enough, Levi! I need more sleep!"

"Your fault," the assistant shrugged before he glanced at his nails and scowled. "Fucking filthy…"

"What are you? Satan?!" Eren screeched before he threw his pillow at Levi's face.

The latter caught it before it could even finish its course and his scowl worsened.

"I'll burn this," he coldly said as he shook the pillow (Eren's face paled in horror). "You have two hours and a half left, brat."

Eren moaned and covered his eyes with his hands.

"Satan!" he exclaimed with a shrilly voice. "You're fucking Satan and I don't know what I've done to deserve this!"

"You left a fucking mess in the bathroom," Levi amiably told him before he went out of the bedroom.

However, the assistant stopped at the door and turned his head to glare at Eren. He had his thin eyebrows knitted together and his lips were slightly pursed in his 'neutral' scowl as Eren had came to name it. (Levi had a lot of different scowls and Eren was pretty sure that they were his only way to express his feelings)

"What," the mangaka grumbled with what was clearly not a pout. Because he didn't pout. Of course.

"Eh," Levi scoffed with a small shrug. "You look like a shit, I was just wondering why Hanji found you cute."

Because Eren's brain was pretty slow after all those all-nighters and that he couldn't really decipher what his assistant's mumbles had been about, he merely blinked and cocked his head like a puppy. The fact that his big eyes were looking up at Levi and that his ruffled locks were falling lopsidedly on his face didn't help at all on making the assistant stop comparing the mangaka to a (cute) animal.  
Not that Eren would ever know.

Levi scoffed another time and decided that it was more than time to take his first tea. He had recently bought some that actually tasted correct and he wanted to drink it.  
Also, he really needed to stop looking at the brat when the latter was laying, still clothed (a miracle in itself) in his nicely tailored suit, on his bed and totally defenseless.  
It was creepy and Levi didn't do creepy.

"Wait!" Eren exclaimed and the assistant stopped on his tracks.

"What now, Eren?" he grumbled before he looked at the brown haired man.

Oh.  
Levi slightly widened his eyes and actually felt surprised at the blush on the younger man's face. The mangaka wasn't looking at him and his (lemon green) eyes were insistingly glaring at his blanket.

"You find me cute?" Eren whispered with a small voice.

Levi sighed and furrowed his brows.

"When did I say that," he tersely said. "I only said that I didn't understand why Hanji found you cute…"

"I've never met Hanji," the brunet mumbled.

"And you're fucking lucky, brat," Levi told him with all the sincerity he could muster. "They are batshit crazy."

Eren chuckled and he softly shook his head. His eyelids were slowly falling and Levi could actually pinpoint how he was falling asleep.

"So you don't find me cute," the mangaka stated as his eyes closed and a small sigh came through his parted lips.

"I find you fucking gross," Levi retorted with a grimace. "How can you leave such a mess in so little time? Do you know how much time it took me to clean your shit?"

Eren didn't answer him as he had fallen asleep and his assistant grumbled under his breath.

"Shitty brat," he muttered before he left the bedroom on his tiptoes.

Levi softly closed the door and raked a hand through his hair before his chest heaved as he sighed heavily.

He took his phone out of his pocket and began to type something before he put back his phone and walked to the kitchen.  
Erwin had told him that the brat hadn't ate since he had left their home. And Levi couldn't have the brat starving when they still needed to finish the fifteenth chapter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just like that, the chapter ends. Levi totally doesn't care about Eren. As he totally didn't find him cute. And Eren should really sleep more if he want to understand that Levi totally digs him in a suit.  
> Also, Levi didn't give Eren a princess hold. I'm disappointed.
> 
> Next chapter will have a lot of Levi and Eren interacting and bickering. You can also follow me on tumblr as "snarky-goldfish" or with the tag "fic: romcom thingy"


	5. Cast and Coloring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi realizes that he isn't that good at burying things. And that Farlan is the best friend _ever_.

 

"Fuck off..." Levi grumbled as he clumsily tried to answer to the phone call.

He still had his eyes closed and from the little noise he could hear, he probably was the only one awake. Great. Just fucking great.

"Yeah, yeah," a familiar and really annoying voice answered back. "It's also nice to hear your voice, Levi..."

The assistant furrowed his brows and blearily tried to remember where he had heard this voice and why he felt as if he was forgetting something.

"Right," Levi grunted as he slowly abandoned the fight against sleep. "What the hell do you want with me at this god forbidden hour of the day?"

"Levi," that familiar voice to which he simply couldn't put a name chuckled, "it's three in the afternoon. You shouldn't even be sleeping..."

The assistant blearily blinked and decided to cast that matter aside. As if he needed someone else to remind how fucked up was his schedule. Farlan was more than enough.  
Wait.

"Farlan?" The dark haired man called.

The voice chucked another time and Levi let his head fall on his pillow, idly wondering if he could die like this. His breathing was obstructed so it was a possibility. But the assistant was so tired that he didn't even care about his impending death.

"About time!" Farlan roared with his habitual and way too loud laugh.

Levi grunted in his pillow.  
"What do you want," he muttered.

"As always, it's a pleasure to talk with you," Farlan commented with another chuckle. "I got selected for a movie."

Levi yawned and scratched his forehead before he pushed back his bangs. His gray eyes faintly widened in surprise at his friend's announcement and his lips stretched into a pleased smile. However, he didn't let any of that happiness seep in his harsh voice. He had a reputation to follow, you know.

"I see," he answered with another yawn. "Is it another porn movie?"

An angry hiss followed his words and Levi smirked. Farlan had always been quite sensitive over that special subject.

"For the last time, Levi," his friend retorted angrily. "It wasn't porn!"

"Right," the assistant snorted and rolled under his covers so he could see once again the clock. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. (Jeager was supposed to be up and working on the next chapter storyboard by now)  
But with all the time lost with that impromptu reunion with the big asses producers of his new movie, the mangaka had had to stay late and they had already lost two days of their schedule.

But Levi wasn't one to stress over deadlines so he shook his head and went back on annoying his best friend.

"You were jacking off on some woman's stomach," the dark haired man retorted calmly. "Totally not porn..."

"Levi!" Farlan whined (but it was to be asked, the blond would have told him that he totally hadn't whined).

"Whatever," the assistant shrugged as he walked to his bag and fetched clean clothes. He would still have to shower, though.

Levi hated putting fresh clothes when he was still grim with all the sweat accumulated during his restless nights looking for sleep. Even if he had indeed caught some sleep last night because he had pulled two all-nighters on a row. And that was all thanks to Jäger who had thought that it would be great to leave for some kind of shitty interview while he still had to finish the twenty last pages of the fifteenth chapter.

"Aren't you even a bit happy for me?" Farlan inquired and Levi had to snort at that.

"Of fucking course," he retorted with his habitual deadpan face.

The assistant kicked his door open (his hands being taken by his phone and fresh clothes) before he walked toward the bathroom. He quickly glanced at Jäger's door. It was still closed so the dark haired man supposed that the younger male was still sleeping.

Levi's face darkened when he noticed that he was the only one suffering at being awake when his whole body screamed for sleep, and he swiftly promised himself that he would wake the mangaka up with a good kick to his tanned ass.

"Then sound like it, dammit!" Farlan complained childishly.

Levi rolled his eyes. The more time his best friend passed with the weirdos in the Japanese dramas (and occasional AV), the weirder the blond became. Soon enough, the former thug with an impressive level-headed mind would become like Hanji.

Levi shuddered at that thought.

One Hanji was more than enough. They were batshit crazy and didn't need to be encouraged or procreate.

"Congratulations," Levi droned as he closed the bathroom door behind him and glanced in disgust at the littering clothes on the floor.

When would Jäger understand that he was a human and as such had some rules like proper hygiene and cleanliness to follow? That was one of the biggest questions that plagued Levi's life since he met the infamous mangaka.

Who was still pleasantly sleeping by the way.

He was  _so_  going to suffer once Levi was done with his shower and morning cleaning.

"I guess that's the most I can get from you," Farlan sighed heavily and the assistant grimaced. With his phone right on his ear, he felt like his friend's spit could end on his ear even if it was totally impossible. "And before you ask, it isn't in a porn!"

"So you won't be jacking off," Levi pleasantly asked.

That also meant that he could watch Farlan's movie or drama series without feeling weirded out. Try to watch a porn with your best friend in it and you'll see. It was weird. As fuck.

"Yes," Farlan insisted. "I'm an important character in this new drama, did you hear about it?"

"No," Levi rolled his eyes once again and checked if the heater was working. He sure as hell didn't want a cold shower right now.

"Levi!" his friend chided him. "You don't even know its name!"

"That's why," the assistant shrugged and put his clothes on the closed toilet lid. "I'm ending this call."

"Wait! Levi! It's really import-"

Levi threw his phone in the (empty) sink and quickly stripped his heavy sweater and big track pants (he got really cold when he slept, okay) before he jumped under the boiling water.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"Jäger, wake the fuck up," Levi thundered as he barged into the mangaka's messy room.

A complaining moan answered him and the assistant felt his face twist into a scowl. If he was up and cleaning, so would Jäger.

"I said wake the fuck up," the dark haired man hissed threateningly while he stomped his foot.

Jäger muttered something that didn't make any sense (something about pink phones and scary rides) while he curled under his fluffy and lemon scented blankets. Levi knew it better than anyone else, he had been the one who had cleaned them. Mostly because Jäger didn't know shit about cleaning and would have washed them with bleach.  
And now that Levi had remembered the mangaka's issues with cleaning, his mood had worsened.

He was so going to kick his cute little ass to the moon.

And he sure as hell didn't have a fixation on the boy's ass. Even if it should be illegal to have cheeks that nicely shaped. Of course, he clearly hadn't thought that. Like Levi would think that Jäger, the brat who didn't know shit about cleaning supplies (the worst sacrilege in the whole world for Levi), had the nicest ass he had ever seen.

"Jäger," Levi whispered in his sweetest voice. "Don't test me. I'm your fucking assistant, not your mom... I won't refrain from kicking your sorry ass until you finally get out of your fucking bed and do your shit!"

The mangaka suddenly rose from his cocoon of blankets and let out an amazed screech.

"EUREKA!"

Levi almost felt his heart stop at the brunet's scream and he froze right on the spot when he saw the mangaka turn his head toward him. Jäger's ruffled hair was standing right like a lion mane around his head and for the first time since they met, Levi actually got to see the boy's face.

And damn. What a face.

With thin pinpricks like pupils, red eyes almost bulging from their sockets, pink (almost red actually) lips parted into a victorious laugh and some dry drool on his cheek, Jäger's face was enough to kill the most vindictive boner. (it was right next to Erwin's eyebrows when the blond had just woke up...)

But of course, Levi's boner had never been like the others. Not that he got a boner whenever he saw Erwin's eyebrows. That was just gross. Like "watching Farlan jerk off" gross.

"I FINALLY GOT IT!" Jäger screeched while he jumped on his bed like a little kid on the Christmas Eve.

Levi wasn't impressed. Mostly because he knew that by any second now, the boy would end bumping on the ceiling.

_Bump._

And there it was.

Levi was a fucking genius. Or seer. Whatever it was, he was great at it.

"And there goes your last neurons," the assistant sighed while faking worry. "They will be dearly missed..."

"Shut up," Jäger retorted while he curled on his bed and nursed his head.

Levi was ready to bet his whole cleaning collection that the brat would end with a bump the size of his fist.

"So you can still talk," he stated. "What a shame..."

Still, being able to talk didn't mean that the mangaka wouldn't be brain-dead.

Jäger rolled his eyes and huffed like an outraged teenager girl before he folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. His hair was still ruffled and as such Levi was able to see that the mangaka had teal eyes when he just woke up. Not that he cared about that.  
Of course not. It wasn't like Levi liked to see and write down every color that Jäger's damn cute eyes had every day.

And he didn't call Jäger's eyes cute.

"Fuck," Levi muttered as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He needed some shut-eyes and like eleven hours of sleep. That would actually be welcome after those two all-nighters and little to no sleep during his thirty minutes nap.

The feeling of a warm gust of wind over his face made him wrinkle his nose and Levi creaked open his eyes to swiftly notice that he had Jäger's face way too close to his.

"So you finally noticed me," the mangaka muttered while his teal blue eyes widened and lightened in some kind of happiness.

Because Jäger was so weird that he got happy from such a thing. It wouldn't surprise Levi if it was true.

"What do you want?" the assistant merely asked because he sure as hell didn't want to pursue that kind of thoughts.

Jäger being happy just because Levi was noticing him was making him think some things that didn't have to be thought at this time of the day. Or actually, never. (But, still... Did Jäger have some kind of attention kink? Was he really an exhibitionist? Would he get hot and excited if Levi were to press him against the kitchen window, where their neighbors, No-Brows and Sweaty Giant, could see them? And why the hell was he even thinking about that?!)

Levi blanched and he pursed his lips while his gray eyes narrowed almost threateningly at Jäger.

' _Not now boner_ ,' he promptly chastised himself.

And noticed by the way that Jäger was actually talking to him.

"What?" Levi interrupted the mangaka. Mostly because he had been so caught with his daydream (it wasn't a sexual fantasy, okay) and by Jäger's rosy lips (goddamn, they would look so nice around his...  _It wasn't a sexual fantasy_ ) that he hadn't been able to hear him.

"I said that I finally found that new character's background story!" Jäger didn't look annoyed by Levi's distracted mind. "You know, the one we discussed yesterday!"

The assistant furrowed his brows and promptly buried each and every little thought about Jäger before he put his mind back on tracks.

While it was true that they had discussed a bit of Jäger's manga settings yesterday night, Levi didn't have much remembrance of it. Mostly because he had been tired to his bones at that time.

"What was it again..." he muttered just as he cupped his chin pensively. "Wasn't it something about a proper model figure?"

Jäger's eyes gleamed. Literally.

"YES!" he pretty much chirped while he jumped toward his assistant to clasp his hands.

Levi raised his eyebrows. Why was Jäger so hyper when he had just woke up. What was his secret? Not that Levi wanted to be hyper. He couldn't even picture himself as hyper. Except if cleaning supplies were included. But that had been just one time and it wasn't that important.  
Even if Hanji loved to talk about it whenever she wanted to piss him off.

Pretty frequently.

"Remember what Erwin said last week?" Jäger added and his enthusiastic voice cut through Levi's dark memories.

The latter nodded. He did remember the blond editor telling the mangaka that they needed to introduce new characters before the readers got tired of the habitual trio. But until then, Jäger had never mentioned it and had kept drawing the fifteenth chapter.

"It's true that Hunter needs a role model," the mangaka began to explain while his now Caribbean eyes sparkled in passion. "Until now, he was to one who inspired the cadets and made them follow him. But he needs someone like this too!"

"Wasn't Thuis enough?" Levi pondered with a raised brow. "She's always by his side and protects him, sometimes without him even noticing it..."

"Thuis could be a great role model but she doesn't have that special something to...," Jäger stopped talking and bit pensively his lips. He tilted his head and parted his lips open like he had had a sudden idea. "Hunter needs someone who gives no shit about his well being! Someone who could actually kill him if he were to break the rules!"

"A character like that would be hated by the readers," the assistant pointed out with a shrug. "It would be like a wet blanket after all those chapters with Hunter training to be the best."

"Not if he's Hunter's superior!" the mangaka insisted.

"That's cliché."

"But what's life without clichés?"

Levi rolled his eyes and finally ceded.

"Alright," he shrugged. "It's your story. And how would that wet blanket be?"

Jâger's lips stretched into a smirk.

"Oh no," the dark haired man muttered. "No fucking way."

"Leviiiiiiii..."

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you so soon..."

Levi grunted as he closed the door behind him with a well placed kick. He let his duffel bag fall on the genkan floor and took his shoes off. Just as he was doing so, his keen eyes noticed faint scratches all along the pricey leather and he gritted his teeth.

" _Jäger_..."

"You're as charming as always," his best friend's voice was closer now and Levi sighed heavily.

"Farlan," he greeted in his habitual cold voice.

The blond slightly waved his hand at him and his gray eyes glowed in concern when he noticed that the mangaka assistant was red on his face and slightly panting.

"Levi," the actor crouched next to his best friend and put his hand on the dark haired male's forehead. "Are you alright?"

"'m fine," the latter muttered as he pushed away Farlan's hand. "Just tired. Going to bed."

The blond frowned but let him go. He quickly glanced at his friend's duffel bag and his frown increased. The zipper was open and from what he could see, Levi had just thrown his clothes in it and left wherever he had been.

Levi was way too meticulous and efficient to act like that. Something had had to happen with his latest mangaka.

Was it Hanji? She did have this liking to ruffle Levi's feathers.

But Levi had told him that she had gotten a new assistant and as such didn't need him as much as before. So it was his new mangaka, the one who asked Levi to be his permanent assistant. What was his name again?

Farlan sighed and stopped himself before he began to berate himself to be more focused on his incoming shooting than Levi's life. They were both adults and his friend didn't need him hovering over him like a mother hen. But he could always help him with his laundry.

Farlan walked to the duffel bag and took it before he went to the laundry room (yes, they had a laundry room, Levi had insisted on it when they had been looking for a new apartment). And because the blond had lived with Levi for years, he already knew the drill. He went through Levi's clothes, putting them on different basket and stopped short when he found something that he hadn't expected at all at the bottom of his friend's bag.

It was a crumpled paper.

Levi hated littering so having paper in his duffel bag was more surprising than expected.

Farlan frowned softly and smothered down the paper, his gray eyes widening in surprise when he saw the sketch of his best friend's face. It was well made, Levi's little wrinkles under his eyes and his habitual frown were there and the blond snorted softly when he saw words littering all around the drawing. They all said the same thing.

Farlan chuckled and carefully folded the paper before he put it in his pocket. He'd have to ask Levi what was all that about. But only when his friend woke up. He looked like a zombie.

* * *

(≖_≖✿)

* * *

"So you ran away?" Farlan asked once Levi woke up, the dark shadows under his eyes still there but less scary and prominent.

The assistant blinked, trying to piece together his friend's words and he quickly gave up. He didn't have tea in his system and Farlan was speaking way too fast for him. So he just grunted, shrugged and decided that it was the best answer ever.

Maybe going back to his silent and extremely rude self was the perfect way to stop Jäger from being such a shit. He'd have to try it out.

A mug full of black tea was suddenly pushed in his hand and Levi's corner of his lips quivered. The closest thing to a smile coming from him, really.

Farlan rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest before he went back to his interrogation.

"So you ran away?" he repeated.

But this time, Levi actually understood him and he grimaced.

"I didn't," he retorted with a scowl. "I just decided that it was more than time to take my leave with pay days. Also, I need to make you understand that nobody calls at such an early time of the day!"

"It was three in the afternoon, Levi," Farlan sighed.

"Whatever," the other huffed.

Farlan was lucky that the tea was great.

"So this has nothing to do with your early visit?" the blond asked as he put down the sketch on the kitchen table.

Levi's face blanched and he swiftly caught the drawing and hid it in his pocket.

"Nothing," he assured with his perfected poker face.

But Farlan wasn't fooled by it. They had played poker together way too many times to be fooled by such a shaky facade.

"Really?" he insisted.

Levi's hand jerked around his mug but the assistant's face stayed as cool as ever.

"Really," he assured.

"I see," Farlan cocked his head and his eyes narrowed with mirth. "What's this mangaka's name?"

"Why do you want to know?" Levi narrowed his eyes and looked at his friend with mistrust.

"Am I not allowed to read the manga my best friend helped make?" the other inquired while widening his eyes in fake innocence.

Sometimes, Levi hated Farlan's actor training. He could lie and still look perfectly innocent while, if Levi were to try it, he'd look like the Devil trying to catch some innocent's souls.

"It's Jaeger," the assistant reluctantly answered.

"What?" Farlan's voice had raised in surprise and his eyes were so wide that Levi immediately knew that he wasn't acting. "Jaeger as in _Titan's_ creator? The one who's behind  _The Wings of Freedom_  manga?!"

"I didn't know that you liked manga," Levi stated.

And it was true, Farlan had never been one who he'd have pegged with manga. The blond loved foreign books and his favorite was written by some weird Italian dude who had died centuries ago.

"I don't really like it," Farlan shrugged and suddenly hit his forehead with the back of his hand. "I FORGOT! You still don't know about it! Remember my call this morning?"

Levi furrowed his brows and nodded. Like he could forget that call, it had woken him up after all.

"I got caught for  _The Wings of Freedom_  drama," his friend explained with a bright smile. "I'll play an important character too!"

Wait a fucking second.

"That's why you called me?" Levi asked while he tried to discreetly connect the information with everything he knew of Jäger.

Didn't the latter tell him that he had hated how the Hollywood production hadn't listened to him for the casting and as such, had forced the producers of the drama to let him do it by himself? Didn't that mean that Jäger was the one who had selected Farlan among the thousand of other applicants?

If that was the case, Jäger had a damn good eye because Farlan was a great actor.

"Yes but that doesn't matter right now," Farlan answered him with a shrug before he narrowed his eyes and his face turned intense. "Levi, you're close to Jaeger, right?"

Levi pursed his lips and immediately buried in the darkest depths of his brain all the daydreams (they weren't sexual fantasies) about the mangaka.

"Kinda," he reluctantly admitted.

"So you could influence him to make my character more important?" Farlan added and Levi almost rolled his eyes.

Of course, Farlan had to immediately see what he could get out of this.

"I could," the dark haired man told him.

Not that he would though.

"Great," the blond nodded while grinning brightly at him. "That's good to know! Now, get out of here and get back to Jaeger."

Farlan was such a great friend. Sometimes, Levi really wondered how he had been  _so lucky_  to have him.

* * *

(◡‿◡✿)

* * *

"Yes," Eren whispered as he gnawed worriedly on his lips. "He just left without a word and since then I haven't heard of him... What should I do?"

"Honestly, Eren," Armin's tired and almost dead voice answered him. "I don't know. It's two in the morning and I've this really important case tomorrow... Can't you let me sleep?"

"But  _Armiiiin_!" the brunet whined. "He hasn't returned and I really need him for the colored front pages! You know that I'm shit at coloring!"

"Don't remind me that, you almost flunked my perfect preschooler dossier with your s-"

Armin's words faded in the back of his mind when Eren heard the front door creak open and he quickly bolted out of his room, his track pants hanging low on his hips and almost making him stumble, while he ran toward the man standing in the entry.

"LEVI!" the mangaka screeched, uncaring that it was two in the morning and that his neighbors needed to sleep. "YOU'RE FINALLY BACK! FUCKING FINALLY!"

"Nice to see that I was dearly missed," the assistant deadpanned while he left his duffel bag on the entry way and quickly swapped his shoes for his indoors slippers. "Please tell me that you didn't do the coloring..."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Eren retorted and, just as he saw Levi smirk and open his mouth, he quickly raised a hand and shook his head. "Wait, that was stupid of me. Of course you think that... I didn't color the front pages. They're finished though."

"Great," Levi acquiesced and hung his coat on the rack before he walked toward Eren's bedroom.

The mangaka narrowed his eyes, following his assistant's back while the latter walked.

Levi was way too compliant right now. Better use this opportunity to get what he wanted.

"So," Eren chirped as he quickly bounced around the assistant.

The latter was already working on coloring the front page, his mouse quickly selecting parts of the sketch and moving to the desired colors.

"Hm?" Levi muttered as he softly clicked his tongue whenever the results didn't please him.

"Can I use you as my muse for my new character?"

"Do whatever the hell you want," the assistant shrugged. "But don't use my name. That would be fucked up."

"Great!" Eren grinned and jumped to smother the older man in a hug.

The latter froze on his chair and stiffly turned his head to look at the brunet. However, the mangaka didn't notice his assistant's alarming state and chuckled while he patted Levi's back. He jumped away from him and promptly got back to his desk, twirling his G-pen while muttering to himself things concerning his manga.

And during all this time, Levi had been petrified on his chair.

"Shit."

And just like that, Levi realized that some things couldn't be buried forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **In the next chapter:** Eren investigates if his assistant is indeed a yakuza. And then, Hanji happens. Poor soul, he'll be dearly missed.


End file.
